


Blood Ties

by marksmom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mpreg, Implied Slash, M/M, Mpreg, Romance, Slash, Violence, bashing, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-11-07 21:22:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 75,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/435588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marksmom/pseuds/marksmom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The summer between 4th and 5th year is not a good one for Harry...and something is discovered that makes it even worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gone

_**JUNE 1996** _

 

“What do you mean he's gone? Where the hell could he have gone?” Severus Snape stared at Albus Dumbledore in confusion. Sheer panic gripped him as he paced the rug in front of Albus' hearth. “Where would the idiot boy go? You're sure the Dursleys don't have him?” He wasn't panicked because he felt guilty for rejecting the boy he told himself...never that...he just...he...

“I'm positive, Severus. They came to pick him up at the station, but he never arrived. Quite upset they were...said something about the boy being ungrateful and he was never to go back to them. We can't have that. Voldemort may be gone for good now, but there are still Death Eaters out there; what happens if one of them finds Harry and kidnaps him?”

“What's wrong Albus? Afraid of losing your little poster boy for the Light?” As a blush spread across the ageing Headmaster's face, Severus knew he had touched upon a nerve. “Oh, so you're no better than the rest of us, eh? Well, at least no one has lied to you!”

“Nor has anyone lied to you Severus. He is your biological son; I saw that part of his family tree.”

“If he's my son, why does he look like Potter, hmm? And I do not recall having relations with Lily Evans”

“You're a wizard, Severus, use your brain. Glamours and charms can make anyone resemble someone else. Here,” Albus set down a blank sheet of parchment, “Make your own family tree if you want proof.”

Severus cast the _Reperio Genus_ spell on the parchment and added a few drops of his own blood. The spell would show his family tree back three generations and forward one. It would show if he had any children and who their other parent was. Severus had never cared who his sexual partners were or whether they were male or female; as long as he was satisfied, it hadn't mattered. Both men watched with morbid fascination as the lines wove their way across the heavy paper. Severus' ancestors were placed first, then the children would be next. As a line dropped down from his name, Severus' breath caught in his throat...maybe the rumours were indeed the truth.

Albus watched as Harry Potter's name appeared underneath Severus' and another line shot out from the side to connect Harry's and Severus' names with a third. That name startled Albus...he hadn't thought that Severus would have slept with that person once, let alone often enough to ensure a pregnancy. He looked up at his Potions Master and saw the look of absolute shock that crossed his face. “Well, Severus? Is that proof enough for you? I must admit that I'm surprised by Harry's other parent, but I'm not one to quibble over past history. Well, now that we know _**this**_ , Harry _**cannot**_ go back to the Dursleys' home; the blood wards are useless...apparently they always have been.”

Severus continued to stare at the parchment in horror. He knew that wizards could become pregnant, but there had to be a deeper connection than just wanting to get their rocks off. Did this mean that he had loved Severus? Did this mean that they had been soul mates? What _**DID**_ this mean...other than that Severus had gotten him pregnant?

 

 

Severus Tobias Snape       James Charles Potter

9 January, 1960              27 March, 1960

                                      31 October, 1981

 

Harry James Severus Potter

31 July, 1980


	2. Just the Beginning

_ **FLASHBACK TO 1979:** _

 

_ James Potter looked up at his friend, Lily Evans, and sighed heavily. “What am I going to do Lils? I can't just walk up to him and tell him. How do you think Severus would react to that? 'Hey, Sev, guess what? I'm preggers! Isn't that  ** GREAT ** ? Wanna get bonded?' He'd kill me without thinking twice about it.” _

_Lily put her arms around her friend and held him tightly. Of all the Marauders, no one would have ever expected James Potter to be the one who was gay. Sirius, yes...Remus, maybe...Peter...well, no one really wanted to **think** about Peter having sex, so it was best just to steer clear of that thought. “Jamie, I didn't even know wizards could become pregnant...muggle men don't get pregnant, so this comes as a shock to me. Are you sure you can't tell Severus? He may not react badly, you never know.”_

“ _Lils, he told me, straight away, that this was nothing more than him wanting to experiment...who better to experiment with than someone he doesn't care about. He found out that I'm gay and figured that I would want to keep it a secret. I did...but I didn't expect to actually have feelings for the git. It's why I kept going back to him. I can't tell him...he'll just laugh at me.” James put his head down in his hands and tried to hold back the tears. He had known there couldn't be a relationship between himself and Severus, but that hadn't stopped James from falling in love with him._

“ _Jamie, listen to me...male pregnancies, how long do they last?”_

“ _About 11 to 12 months.”_

“ _How far along are you?”_

“ _About 3 months, give or take a little. I've sworn Poppy Pomfrey to secrecy about this, so that no one else will know.”_

“ _Here's what we do...”_

_Two weeks later, James Charles Potter and Lily Rose Evans were married by Albus Dumbledore in a private ceremony; only Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Poppy Pomfrey were present as witnesses. As James' pregnancy progressed, he used glamours to hide his belly and Lily used a different glamour to make everyone believe that she was the one who was pregnant._

_ When James gave birth to his son on 31 st July, Poppy delivered the baby in a closed room at the house in Godric's Hollow, with only Lily present. The birth certificate listed Lily as the mother and James as the father. When Sirius, Remus and Peter were allowed in the room, both James and Lily were underneath the sheets on the bed, holding each other closely and looking at the tiny baby in Lily's arms. Once again, glamours were needed to hide James' pale, sweaty skin and to make Lily look like she was the one who had just given birth. _

_Remus thought something was off about the scent of the baby, but he couldn't be certain. By the next time they saw them, little Harry smelled like a combination of Lily and James; Remus caught the undertones of another scent on the baby, but thought it was his imagination._

_James and Lily were happy that Harry looked like James and not his other father. The only problem came with Harry's hair. It was pitch black, just like Severus', but had the texture of James' brown hair. He had bright green eyes that James knew came from Severus' mother, but they were almost an exact match for Lily's, so that would pass by any examination. Poppy continued to keep their secret and no one had ever known...until now._

 

_ **END FLASHBACK** _


	3. And the Trouble Starts

_**AUGUST 1995** _

 

Harry Potter was no ordinary wizard; he had defeated the darkest wizard to ever walk on the earth twice by the age of fourteen. Just after his fifteenth birthday, Sirius and Remus had come to rescue him from the hell that was his life at the Dursleys; Remus seemed to want to ask if something was wrong, but restrained himself, not wanting to upset Harry. They were taking him to stay with the Weasleys at the Burrow for the rest of the summer.

Once at the Burrow, Harry began to relax. No one needed to know about his life at the Dursley household; it wasn't anyone's business but his. Because he hadn't been able to access his books to do any of his summer work, Harry was far behind both Ron and Hermione; Harry broke down and asked Hermione to help him with some of his homework. One of the projects they had to work on was a family tree. Hermione had them cast the Reperio Genus spell on a piece of parchment and then add their blood to it. They all watched their papers with fascination as names were scrawled in black ink across the parchment. Hermione went first, followed by Ron, and then it was Harry's turn. As his family was laid out in front of him, Harry got the shock of his life.

“Harry? What is this?” Hermione's voice was strident with surprise.

“I don't know...it has to be wrong! Do it again!” Harry was panicking; it had to be wrong, Snape couldn't be his _**father**_! They made another family tree with Hermione casting the spell.

“Mate...did you know about this?” Ron's voice was shocked but there was an undertone of anger.

“No...this can't be right! My mum was Lily Potter and my dad was James Potter! There has to be something wrong...Hermione, what went wrong?”

Sirius walked through the door of the Burrow; he had come to see his godson. He could come and go as he pleased, now that Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew were dead. Pettigrew had testified under Veritaserum, before he received the Dementor's Kiss, that Sirius had never been guilty and that he, Peter, had been the Potter's secret keeper. Sirius walked over to the table to look at the family trees they had produced. “What's wrong, Pup?”

“Siri, something's wrong with my family tree, look.” He held the parchment out so that Sirius could see it, never expecting the reaction he would get from his godfather.

“What the  _** HELL ** _ is this? How can James and  **_ Snivellus _ ** be your fathers? Lily was your mother...Remus and I were there for your birth.” He made Harry do the tree again, this time with Sirius casting the spell; once again, the results were the same. Sirius glared at the parchment and then looked at Harry, as if seeing him for the first time. He threw the parchment at Harry and stormed out of the door. Harry watched him go as his heart hit the soles of his battered trainers. Sirius didn't want him; his godfather had rejected him. He looked at Ron and Hermione helplessly; the twin looks of disgust on their faces told him that they didn't want him either. They heard loud voices outside and then the crack of someone disapparating. The rest of the Weasleys and Remus ran into the house, each of them demanding to see the family tree.

Harry backed up against the wall away from everyone; he hadn't expected people to hate him because of something he had no control over. Remus looked up from the parchment and his eyes sought out Harry's. He could sense his pup's fear and sadness but that was buried underneath the wave of disgust from the younger Weasleys and Hermione. He gave the parchment to Arthur Weasley and walked over to kneel in front of Harry.

“This doesn't change anything, you know that, right?” Harry held his gaze for a moment, but before he could nod, Ron's angry voice rose over the noise.

“ _ **Wrong!**_ This changes _**everything**_! He's that greasy git's son; how could that _**NOT**_ change anything?” Harry looked at his friends and was shocked by the amount of animosity he saw in their eyes.

“How does it change anything, Ron? Harry’s not responsible for who his parents are.” Remus was trying to be the voice of reason, but a few of the Weasleys were having none of it.

Molly looked up at Harry, disappointment in every line on her face. “How could you keep something like this from us, Harry? I’m disappointed in you.”

Harry cringed, but felt like he had to defend himself. “I didn’t know! How could I know something like this? Both of my parents are dead!”

Hermione’s voice broke in, dripping with sarcasm. “No, both of your parents _**aren’t**_ dead…Severus Snape is still alive. I wonder if he knows?” A malicious look entered her eyes. “Maybe we should write to him and let him know that his son wants to see him.” Seeing the terrified look that crossed Harry’s face, she smiled evilly. “Yes, I think I _**WILL**_ write to Snape…just to see his reaction. Ta!” Hermione took off to the upper levels of the Burrow, no doubt looking for writing materials.

Ron turned to look at Harry. “Get your stuff out of my room. I’m not sharing a room with anyone related to that greasy git.” He turned and went out into the garden, leaving Harry almost in tears.

The tears came with the next words out of Molly Weasley's mouth. “I think you need to leave, Harry. I won't be sharing my house with a liar.”

Remus gathered Harry into his arms. “Go get your things together, Pup. I'll take you home with me.”

Harry shook his head and whispered, “I can't go to Grimmauld Place; Sirius doesn't want me either.” Harry turned and dejectedly headed up the stairs to get his trunk and pack up his clothing. Remus heard Ginny and Hermione giggle hysterically as Harry walked past their door. He turned to face the rest of the Weasleys.

“How could you even think that Harry had any knowledge of this? He's always thought that Lily and James were his parents; how could he know that wasn't true? Not even Sirius and I knew that Severus was Harry's biological father.”

Molly shook her head and turned away. “I wish I could believe that, Remus. Harry's known for keeping things to himself and Albus says that he lies in order to gain attention.”

Molly's eldest two children snorted at their mother's words and Bill spoke. “Mum, listen to yourself. You know as well as I do that Albus Dumbledore himself is not known for telling the complete truth; he tells you only what he thinks you should know, and even then, you can't count on that being the whole truth.” Charlie and Bill turned to look at Remus. “Tell Harry that we're behind him; I can't speak for the twins, but we're here for him.” Charlie nodded in agreement.

Remus looked at Fred and George; Fred was silently picked as the spokesman. “Harry's our littlest brother; how could we not stand behind him? Let him know that there are four Weasleys who care about him.” Remus nodded and went upstairs to help Harry pack up. He found Harry sitting on his packed trunk, tears running down his cheeks. He looked up when Remus walked into the room.

“Why Remy? Why are they being like this? What did I do?” Remus sat next to Harry and put his arm around his shoulders.

“I don't know why they're doing this, Pup, but you didn't do anything. C'mon, let's get out of here.” Remus stood again and looked down at Harry.

“Where are we going to go? I can't go back to Grimmauld Place.”

“We're not going there...I have a small house that my parents left to me. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. We'll stop by Diagon Alley to get your books and supplies before heading there. Is that alright with you?”

Harry nodded, not really paying attention. He couldn't believe that Ron and Hermione could treat him like they had, simply because of who one of his parents was. But what hurt the most was how Sirius had reacted. He was Harry's godfather and he had rejected him when he found out that Harry's parents weren't who he thought they were.

Remus was worried for his pup. Harry had already had so much happen to him in his short life; he didn't need for something else to go sour on him; added to that was Remus' thoughts that the Dursleys hadn't been the loving, caring family that Albus had said they were. Sirius' reaction finally proved to Remus that he had never grown up...and probably never would. Remus shrank Harry's trunk and broom and then handed him Hedwig's cage. Placing an arm around Harry's shoulders, Remus concentrated and apparated them out of the Burrow. 

~OOooOO~

Remus stood on Platform 9 ¾ , waving Harry off to his fifth year at Hogwarts, before apparating to the school himself. Remus was teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts again and was happy he was going to be at the school for Harry. This was the first year that Harry wouldn't have to worry about maniacal wizards trying to kill him; the only thing he was going to have to worry about was if his friends were still his friends.

After they had left the Burrow, Harry hadn't heard from Ron or Hermione for the rest of the summer. Bill, Charlie and the twins had been by several times, but none of the other Weasleys had so much as sent a note. They hadn't heard from Sirius either, but Remus thought that was a blessing.

Remus noticed groups of students milling about and talking, so he decided to find out what was being said and if any of it was about Harry. It was... _ **all**_ of it. The Weasleys had apparently contacted everyone they could think of, to tell them about Harry's parentage. Lucius Malfoy walked up to Remus with Draco in tow.

“Lupin! Just the man I wanted to see. What is all this rot about Severus being Potter's father?”

Remus looked at the blonde man, wondering if he was going to be as bad as the Weasleys or if he was just concerned for his friend. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, he chose not to answer the question directly. “That information is Harry's to give out, not mine.”

Lucius nodded with a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Draco, now might be the time to offer your hand to Potter again. I think he may be realising just how poor a choice he made five years ago.”

Remus snorted. “Yes, I agree. I think he has realised it and the knowledge is making him feel even worse than he already did.” He turned to Draco. “By all means, offer your hand in friendship again, but you had best mean it. I don't take kindly to my pup being hurt. I haven't figured out exactly what to do about the Weasleys and Sirius yet, but I will eventually.” Draco nodded and boarded the train. The two men watched through the window of Harry's compartment as Draco's hand was offered and accepted.

Lucius turned to Remus and eyed him curiously. “What did you mean about Black? Please don't tell me that he didn't support his godson in this.”

Remus grasped the other man's arm and pulled him off to the side. “No, he didn't support Harry. He got mad and left the Weasley's house in a snit when this came out; Harry hasn't heard from him since. I knew that he was a bit childish, but this is going a little too far. Harry didn't know about this before they did the family tree homework; how could they expect him to tell them something he didn't know? I may never forgive Sirius for this.” Not even realising the information he had given away, Remus looked at his watch. “Forgive me, Lucius, but I must go. I have to get to the school.”

“You are teaching again this year?” At Remus' nod, he continued. “I am as well. I found myself at loose ends after Narcissa's death and offered my services as the Transfiguration teacher. Minerva gladly accepted the opportunity to be just Head of House for Gryffindor and the deputy Headmistress.”

Remus extended his hand to Lucius. “I'll see you there. This will give both of us a chance to keep an eye on our boys.”

As soon as the train began to pull out of the station, both Remus and Lucius apparated to the front gates of Hogwarts.


	4. Not a Good Year

If Harry thought that it would be easier being back at Hogwarts, he was wrong. Every few minutes on the train ride, people kept coming into his compartment and questioning him about his relationship with Severus Snape. It annoyed Draco so badly that he locked and warded the door against anyone coming into the compartment.

Once they arrived at the school, it just got worse. He made his way over to the Gryffindor table and sat in his usual seat; everyone around him got up and moved away from him. Fred and George made room for him with the 7th years, so that he wouldn't have to sit by himself. Ron and Hermione had started the gossip mill going by telling Seamus Finnegan about Harry's parents and, within minutes, the entire hall was talking about it again.

Remus and Lucius were dealing with the adult versions of the students' conversations. Remus was fending off questions from all of the teachers while Lucius only had to deal with one...Severus Snape.

“Lucius, please tell me you have heard the rumours flitting about.”

“Which rumours are those Severus?”

“Potter!”

“Ah, yes...those rumours. I have heard them.” Lucius was giving out no information; he wanted Severus to tell him.

“And?”

“And what, Severus? What do you want me to say? I couldn't make a judgement based on those rumours alone; I didn't have both sides of the story. Now it is up to you to supply me with your side. Once I have that, I can make a relatively informed decision.” Lucius looked at his long-time friend. “I am waiting.”

“And you will continue to do so. I have nothing to say about the matter. To my knowledge, Harry Potter is the son of Lily and James Potter. I have never been given any information or proof to the contrary. I do not recall sleeping with, or even near, Lily Evans Potter. There is no reason for me to assume that the brat is mine.”

Lucius nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. “Now that I have heard your side, I can honestly say that I have no intention of giving credence to the rumours. Unless they prove themselves to be true, there is no reason to bother with them.” Lucius knew that there was more to this than what Severus had said, but he wasn't going to pry. It might work to his advantage if Severus thought that Lucius had sided with him. 

~OOooOO~

The Welcoming Feast set the tone for the rest of the term. Harry was largely ignored by almost everyone except for Draco, Fred and George. Ron and Hermione, however, went out of their way to make life absolutely miserable for Harry. He was already insecure after the years of verbal abuse that the Dursleys had heaped on him; adding this treatment from his former friends only made it worse.

Snape decided that Harry had started the rumours to play a prank on him and treated Harry accordingly. Three weeks into the term, Severus starting doling out detentions to Harry like Albus Dumbledore handed out sherbet lemons. Harry had gone to Remus, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore about them, but was told that the detentions would stand as Snape had valid reasons behind them. Harry gave up and didn't bother to tell them that the reasons were made up or that Snape was blaming him for something another student had done. Harry was thankful that Snape wasn't taking points in addition to the detentions, otherwise the Gryffindors might have been even worse than they already were. Harry began to talk less to Remus after this episode; if Remus wouldn't stand up for him, why should Harry trust him?

Harry decided that he wasn't going to play on the Quidditch team this year; his heart wasn't in it and he felt that, if he couldn't give it everything he had, he shouldn't play. This gave Gryffindor House just one more reason to hate him. When Remus had questioned his decision, Harry had only shrugged and sidestepped the question.

Harry sat for his O.W.L.s and was looking forward to the end of the term. One of the side effects of his enforced isolation was that his grades improved drastically. Even Snape couldn't find fault with his potions...he gave him detention for cheating anyway, though he knew that Harry hadn't cheated. Harry had never wanted to get away from Hogwarts before, but now he did. 

~OOooOO~

The day of the Leaving Feast, everything came to a head. Ron got tired of Harry not responding to his insults and planned revenge with Hermione and Seamus, to be carried out that night. Hermione stunned Harry and the other two physically beat him until he couldn't walk. They made sure to leave his face and lower arms alone, so that no marks would show when he was wearing his robes. After they were done, Ron spat on Harry and led the other two away.

Harry crawled into a nearby classroom and began to cast spells to heal as many of the bruises and cuts as possible. He knew he had at least two broken ribs and quite possibly a broken arm, but had no way of healing them other than going to the Infirmary; he wouldn't do that as he didn't trust Madam Pomfrey not to tell Remus about his injuries. He painfully made his way back to the common room and, before entering, cast one last spell to glamour his appearance; no one would be able to see any of the bruises and the glamour would cover the remaining cuts and his bloodied robes. That night he charmed his bed curtains to stay closed and silenced; he wanted no one to be able to hear him as he cried himself to sleep.

Once he was certain that his dorm-mates were all asleep, he cast a spell that would allow his trunk to be shrunken and re-enlarged with a voice command. He finished packing his trunk and placed his shrunken broom inside before trying to sleep. He woke before any of the other boys and, placing his trunk on his bed and, charming the bed curtains closed again, went to shower. He quickly bathed, cast more healing spells and dressed before re-applying his glamour. Returning to his bed, he threw the clothing he had worn the day before onto the bed and closed his trunk; he forgot to put the ripped and bloody clothes into his trunk before he shrank it, so that no one would see them. 

Stuffing his invisibility cloak into his robe pocket with his trunk, Harry went to the Owlery and told Hedwig to stay at the school over the holidays. He didn't know where he was going to be and he didn't want her to come to any harm. Once he was done there, he went to the Great Hall and ate a meagre breakfast; he was in too much pain to eat a lot and he didn't want to sick up on the train ride back to King's Cross. Once people started to enter the Hall for their last breakfast before the holidays, Harry slipped his invisibility cloak over himself and left the castle. He walked down to Hogsmeade and waited on board the train for the other students to arrive; it gave him some time to plan out what he was going to do.

He wasn't ever going back to the Dursleys' and he wasn't going to the Burrow, for obvious reasons. He refused to go to Grimmauld Place and he didn't think that Remus would want to be stuck with him all summer. After having Remus side with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Harry wasn't sure he could trust him any more. He finally made up his mind; he would be staying in Diagon Alley for the summer holidays. 

~OOooOO~

Remus was on his way to the Great Hall for breakfast when he was stopped by a very panicked Neville Longbottom. “Mr. Longbottom, what's wrong?”

Neville tried to catch his breath before answering. “Professor Lupin, I found these on Harry's bed this morning. His trunk was already gone and so was he.” Neville handed Harry's bloody clothing to Remus; the smell of blood overwhelmed the werewolf's sensitive nose.

Remus grabbed his arm and pulled him into an empty classroom. “Have you seen Harry this morning? Please think Neville, it's very important that I find him.”

Neville shook his head. “No. I looked for him after I found those, but I couldn't find him. I overheard Ron, Hermione and Seamus laughing about something they had done to Harry, but I didn't hear what they had done. I think...I think they beat him.”

Remus went pale and walked away from Neville into the Great Hall. He walked straight up to Albus and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Albus Dumbledore, I charge you with the responsibility of finding the miscreants who harmed my godson. Once you have, I expect that appropriate punishment will be handed out to them. As the Headmaster of this school, it is your responsibility to protect all of its students from harm. Should you not wish to fulfil your duties, I will lodge a complaint with the Board of Governors showing your lack of willingness to protect your students from those that wish them harm.”

Remus unfurled Harry's bloodied robes and clothing and showed them to the school. He trained his eyes on Ron and Hermione, waiting for some sign that they knew they had been found out. Ron's face flushed until it matched the colour of his hair and Hermione paled dramatically. They looked at each other and then over at Seamus who had turned a pale green colour.

Remus cast a silent _Sonorus_ charm on them just before Hermione leaned over and whispered into Ron's ear. “I didn't think you hurt him that badly.”

“I didn't either. Seamus, he didn't look that bad when we were done, did he?”

Seamus shook his head. “All that black from the robes must have covered it up.”

Hermione suddenly realised that everything they had said had been heard by the entire school. Albus Dumbledore stood with a disappointed sigh and motioned to them to approach the head table. Once they had assembled in front of him, Albus looked over the top of his glasses at them.

“Misters Weasley and Finnegan and Miss Granger, I believe you have just admitted, in front of the school and a sitting member of the Board of Governors, that you three harmed Mr. Potter. Your wands please.” He held out his hand for their wands. Seamus handed his over first, followed by Hermione. Ron glared defiantly at the Headmaster.

“Why should I? He deserved it; he deserved everything he got.”  Remus noticed the hard look that Dumbledore shot at Ron before he spoke again.

“And what did Mr. Potter do to deserve a beating from you and Mr. Finnegan?”

“He's that git's son! He hid it from us and didn't tell us about it.” Ron pointed at Snape with his wand and glared accusingly in his direction. “I wouldn't have wanted to be his friend if I'd known he was Snape's kid.” Remus reached over to grab Ron's wand from his hand and handed it to Albus.

“You will remain here after all of the students have left the castle. Your parents will be contacted and will be informed of your behaviour. Professor Malfoy, as a current member of the Hogwarts' Board of Governors, I request your presence at this meeting. We will be discussing expulsion.”

Lucius nodded in agreement. The noise level in the Great Hall rose to epic proportions after this pronouncement. Lucius rose and walked to Draco's side. “Go get your trunk. I'll apparate us back to the Manor after the meeting. I want you to look around and try to find Harry.”

Draco nodded. “Send one of the house elves to find me when the meeting is over. I'll look everywhere I can until you send for me.” Draco left the Great Hall and went back to the dungeons for his trunk, trying to think of places Harry could hide.


	5. Expulsion, Hiding and a New Wand

The result was expulsion.

The meeting with Albus and the three sets of parents did not go smoothly. David and Jean Granger were the most accepting of Hermione's fate; apparently she had been in trouble for bullying when she had been in primary school and they had been surprised that it hadn't happened at Hogwarts until now. Aidan and Gwen Finnegan were less accepting of their son, once they had learned what had happened and to whom; they verbally lit into Seamus before they even left Albus' office.

Molly and Arthur Weasley, however, were divided in their feelings about Ron's punishment. Molly sided with Ron and believed that Harry deserved whatever he got. It took everything that Remus had to keep himself from strangling the bitch where she stood; only the look he received from Lucius kept him in his place. Arthur was horrified that his son could do something like that to another person, let alone the boy he had been friends with for four years.

“How could you do that to Harry? You're acting as if he had a choice of parents and he chose those two.” He looked up at Remus. “I'm sorry, Remus. If I had known how this would end up, I would have stopped it last summer. What can I do to help?”

“We need to go to King's Cross to see if Harry was on the Express. If he's not there, then he may still be here, somewhere on the grounds.” Arthur nodded in agreement, ignoring the irate look from his spouse.

Lucius, now in possession of three snapped wands, spoke up. “I would suggest leaving now. The train should be there shortly, if it hasn't already arrived. Draco has been searching inside the castle for Harry; we should see if he's found him.” Lucius summoned a house elf and asked it to bring Draco to him. The elf bowed and disappeared, reappearing only a moment later with Draco. When asked if he had found anything, Draco shook his head.

“No...I did find some spots of blood just inside the Entrance Hall, though, but I don't know if they're from Harry.”

Remus leapt out of his seat and ran to the Entrance Hall. He quickly found the blood and confirmed, by the use of a spell, that it was indeed Harry's blood. He began to follow his pup's scent and discovered that it lead towards Hogsmeade. He went back inside the castle and met Albus, Arthur and Lucius just inside the doors. “It is Harry's blood. His scent goes towards Hogsmeade, so I'm going to assume he got on the train. Arthur, you wanted to help...come with me to King's Cross and help look for Harry.”

Albus agreed with the plan. He would accompany them and speak with the Dursleys; he couldn't guarantee that Harry would be going back to them. All three men quickly discussed their plans, never noticing the dark figure of the Potions Master watching and listening from the shadows.

Severus still didn't believe that he could be Potter's father. He had never had sex with Lily Potter; he would have remembered _**that**_. Conveniently forgetting that he had been James Potter's lover for several months, Severus left the shadows and began to walk back toward the dungeons. Albus saw him leave and stopped him before he could get too far away.

“Severus, I shall return here in one hour, please be in my office at that time.”

Severus nodded and continued on his way to his rooms, intent upon opening that lovely bottle of Glenlivet that Minerva had given him for Christmas. After this year, he felt he deserved the indulgence. 

~OOooOO~

The train started to fill with students and Harry stepped out of the compartment he was in to wait in the walkway. He listened to the conversations flowing about him and began to realise that Ron, Hermione and Seamus had been discovered. From what he heard, Dumbledore was considering expulsion. _Serves them right_ , thought Harry bitterly, _I didn't do anything to deserve that_. He didn't see Draco get on the train but realised that Lucius was still a member of the Board of Governors and would want to be there if those three were expelled.

The train left Hogsmeade station and chugged its way back to King's Cross. Harry settled in an empty compartment and slept for most of the trip. Once the train had come to a stop in London, he waited until everyone had got off before leaving himself. He carefully picked his way across the platform, avoiding anyone who came to close to him. He saw Bill standing off to the side speaking with Ginny and decided to listen in on their conversation.

“What the hell was Ron thinking?”

“What does it matter? He's Snape's son! Doesn't _**that**_ matter?”

“No, Ginny, that _**doesn't**_ matter. Harry has no control over who his parents are. Did you chose Mum and Dad to be your parents?” Bill unknowingly echoed his father's words.

“Well...no.”

“Alright then, if you couldn't choose your parents, what makes you think that Harry was able to choose his? Why are you all blaming him for this? If anything, you should be blaming Severus Snape and James Potter.” The twins walked over and joined in on the conversation, taking Harry's side.

Harry had heard enough and walked quickly over to a dark corner close to the exit. He would wait until everyone had left the platform before trying to leave. He didn't want to be discovered now, not when he was so close to his goal. He heard the crack of someone apparating onto the platform and cautiously peered around the corner. Remus, Arthur Weasley and Albus Dumbledore had arrived and began to search the area. Harry knew that Remus' sense of smell was better than anyone else's so he decided to risk leaving then. He kept to the wall and made it out of the exit without being discovered.

Once out in the station, Harry went into the nearest loo and removed the invisibility cloak. His glamour was beginning to fade and he had to re-apply it, but how could he do it without being caught using underage magic? As he stared at his reflection, he noticed that he began to look different. His hair lightened in colour until it was a medium brown and his eyes darkened to a shade of brown that was almost black. He realised that this is what he might have looked like if he had taken after Snape in looks. He brushed aside his fringe and saw that his scar wasn't visible anymore; the whole effect made him look older than his fifteen years. Apparently he was scared enough for accidental magic to take over; he hoped it lasted longer than the consciously applied glamour.

Harry Potter walked out into the crowds of King's Cross Station and disappeared. 

~OOooOO~

Harry slowly made his way into a darkened alley and held his wand up. He flattened himself against the side of a building as the Knight Bus came to a screeching halt in front of him. The doors opened and he was once again faced with Stan Shunpike; this time, however, he had no intention of being found by the Minister of Magic.

“Where you wanna go?”

“Diagon Alley.”

“Fourteen sickles, if you want 'ot chocolate, eleven if you don'.”

Harry handed over eleven sickles and took a seat toward the rear of the bus. He didn't want any conversation during this trip, so he stayed as far away from Stan as he could get. Fifteen minutes later, the bus came to an abrupt stop in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry stepped off of the bus and it disappeared down the street.

Harry knew he'd have to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, at least until he was able to get to Gringotts. Hopefully there would be a flat for let somewhere in the Alley. He took a room and paid for three days, thinking that he would need at least that amount of time to find somewhere else to live. If there were no flats available, he would have to make a go of it in muggle London. 

~OOooOO~

Leaving the Dursleys to return to their house, Albus found Arthur and Remus standing outside of a loo just beyond the entrance to Platform 9 ¾. They had traced Harry's scent into the loo, but it disappeared after that.

“He's somewhere in London, most likely Diagon Alley.” Remus looked at the other men. “I'm going there to search. Arthur, if you could ask Bill, Charlie and the twins to come help, I would appreciate it. Bill's help would be most useful, considering what he does for Gringotts.”

Arthur nodded and left the station to apparate back to the Burrow. Albus looked at Remus and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We'll find him, Remus. I have to go back to Hogwarts now; I want to speak with a certain Potions Master about his actions this term.” Inwardly, the old man was fuming; how _**dare**_ Harry Potter just disappear...he wasn't done with him yet.

Remus nodded and left to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron. There were too many bodies in the pub to be able to distinguish Harry's scent from all of the rest, so he just went out into Diagon Alley. He prayed that they would be able to find his pup before anything else happened. Not only that, but Remus was certain that Harry hadn't been able to heal himself; he needed to find Harry before his injuries became worse or infected. He completely missed seeing the shadowed eyes watching him from a corner of the pub. 

~OOooOO~

Harry had rented a small flat over Flourish and Blotts; it was tiny, but why would just one person need more than a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen? He stocked the cold cupboard and bought a few things to make the place a little more homey, but didn't invest that much time into it. About two weeks after he moved in, Harry began to notice that he really wasn't feeling very well. He went to the apothecary so that he could buy some basic potions ingredients for healing potions and salves. He had a feeling that some of his cuts had become infected and wanted to stop them from getting worse.

His glamour had remained, even while he slept, so he assumed it would be there until he no longer needed it. He had avoided using his wand for anything, not wanting to be arrested for underage use of magic. However, he had read an article in an old issue of The Daily Prophet that a wizard's magical signature is tied in to the first wand he owns. If he buys a second wand, the magic from that wand is untraceable...sort of like wandless or accidental magic. As long as his first wand remained intact, no one should be able to trace him.

He asked Stephan Blotts, one of the store's owners, if there was somewhere, other than Ollivander's, that he could buy a new wand. He had been given the address of a wand maker who had a small store just at the borderline of Diagon and Knockturn Alleys. As he walked through the door, he felt strong magic wash over him; he looked in a mirror on the wall to make sure his glamour was still in place.

“May I help you, Sir?” An older witch stood behind the small counter, watching him closely.

“I'd like to buy a new wand.”

“Old one get broken?”

Harry chuckled slightly. “Yeah, a small...accident.”

The wrinkled face smiled, showing gaps where teeth should be. “Well, step on over here. Let's see what I can do for you.” She started placing wands on the counter; Harry picked them up one by one to see if he felt anything from them. Like his original wand purchase, it quickly became apparent that this was going to take a while. After about twenty minutes, Harry picked up a wand and felt the tingle of magic shoot up his arm.

“Ah, found it have you? That one's special; maple with a dragon heartstring core. Not many wands made of maple out there. It's said that the second wand will show you the way to your heart, if you've not found it with your first. You're a bit young to be worrying about that though.” At Harry's surprised look, she smiled again. “Don't worry, Little One. Your secret is safe with me; I can tell that you've been through much. Oh, and you might want to have those ribs and your left arm looked at. The broken bones will heal wrong and be very painful, if you don't.”

Harry stared at the woman, not asking how she knew. “Where can I go? I won't go to St. Mungo's.”

She walked around the counter and looked into his eyes. “Much pain, more than just physical...come in back, I'll take care of you.”

Harry hesitated; while the woman was nice, he wasn't sure that he wanted to let his guard down around anyone. She snorted at his reluctance.

“Well, if you won't let me heal you, at least get some Skele-Gro; that'll take care of the bones. It'll hurt at first, but that will go away as the bones heal. Go on, go now.”

“How much for the...”

“No, that wand's been laying around here for ages, gathering dust. Like the wand, you're special too, Little One. Take care.” The witch turned around and went into the back of the shop, ending their conversation. Harry shook his head slowly and left the shop with his new wand. Heeding the witch's advice, he went back to the apothecary and bought Skele-Gro. Gods, he hated that stuff, but he knew it worked, so it was necessary. He went back to his flat and took the recommended dosage. As he breathed through the pain of his bones re-knitting themselves, Harry hoped that he could do this alone and that no one would find him.

The elderly witch watched him leave her shop and sighed. What was Harry Potter doing in Diagon Alley wearing an extremely strong glamour charm? She knew that it was more than just the basic teenage rebellion and had to wonder about his broken bones and other injuries. She hadn't seen any articles stating that The Boy Who Lived had gone missing, but she would now keep her eyes open for them. She hoped that the boy would be fine on his own, however, she didn't think he would be alone for long.


	6. Letters and Finding Harry

Harry received his Hogwarts letter on his birthday; it had no address on it, just his name. He had stared at the letter for a long time before opening it.

 

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Below you will find a list of the books and supplies you will need for your sixth year as a Hogwarts student. Please be at Platform 9 ¾ on 1 st September; the Hogwarts Express will be leaving at 11:00 sharp. Your ticket for the Hogwarts Express is enclosed._

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Along with the ticket for the Express was another letter, this one also written in green ink.

 

_Dear Harry,_

_I realise that you may not wish to be found, but I do implore you to return to Hogwarts for your sixth year. I don't know exactly what happened to cause you to leave; I was only told that Professor Snape is your biological father and that Misters Weasley and Finnegan and Miss Granger were expelled due to their treatment of you._

_Remus has been out of his head with worry over you; I hope that you will return with the rest of the students and put his mind at ease. Please contact me at your earliest convenience._

_Minerva McGonagall_

Harry placed the letters and ticket with the small pile of other letters he had received but never answered. Most of them were from Remus, but two were from Draco and one was from Bill Weasley, strangely enough.

 

_Harry,_

_I can't say I'm surprised that you don't want to be found, considering how some of my family has treated you. I wanted to let you know that Charlie, Fred, George, Dad and I are all squarely in your corner. Remus asked for our help in trying to locate you. He figures that you've disappeared into London somewhere, but I don't think you'd go that far away. I know London has several wizarding communities, but I figure that you're still in Diagon Alley as it's a place you already know. I only hope that you've found a safe place to stay and that you're recovered from what Ron did to you._

_If you need help, please contact me through Gringotts. I've transferred back here permanently. Charlie has transferred to the Scottish National Dragon Reserve and the twins are going to be opening that store they've always talked about. They mentioned that you are their number one sponsor. I can only assume that means that you've given them money to start their dream._

_I hope you contact me, whether you need help or not._

_Bill Weasley_

Harry hadn't known what to make of the letter, so he had just put it on the pile with the others. 

~OOooOO~

Bill Weasley was nothing if not persistent; he was determined to find Harry if it was the last thing he did. Starting at Gringotts, he cast every spell he could find to trace Harry's magical signature, but they all failed to find anything. Bill thought about what that could mean. One, Harry could be in muggle London and not using magic at all or, two, Harry might have bought a new wand. It wasn't common knowledge, but a wizard's magical signature was tied in with the first wand that they owned. Bill knew that, if Harry had purchased a second wand and was using it exclusively, their chances of finding him dropped down to almost nothing.

It had been almost four months since Harry had disappeared at King's Cross Station; the new term at Hogwarts had started six weeks ago. Remus had hoped that Harry would be on the Express on the First of September, but he hadn't been there. By accessing records, Bill had found that Harry had been to Gringotts several times, finally obtaining a Gringotts card, so that he wouldn't have to return to the bank every time he needed money. He had made purchases at several stores in Diagon Alley and out in muggle London, but the purchases hadn't followed any set pattern for time or place. Bill finally decided to put a tracer on Harry's card that would alert him when it was used.

He was alerted not ten minutes later when Harry's card was used at the apothecary in Diagon Alley. 

~OOooOO~

Harry made his way carefully down the stairs from his flat. He was feeling even worse than he had right after the beating; he was having cold sweats and was constantly light headed. Harry thought that he had healed all of the open cuts on his back, but now realised that he must have missed some and they were badly infected; he was surprised it had taken so long to get this bad, though. He slowly headed to the apothecary shop, to see if they had anything stronger for infections than what he had brewed.

After making his purchase, he started back to his flat, never noticing the red haired man who entered the apothecary after he left. 

~OOooOO~

Bill walked up to the counter and smiled at the man behind it. “I'm looking for the man who just left this shop. I didn't see what he looked like, but when he bought something here, he activated a tracer on the Gringotts card he used.”

The apothecary's eyes widened. “What has Mr. Evans done?”

“Mr. Evans? What's his first name?”

“James, sir.”

“Hmm...James Evans. How...original of him.” He noticed the frightened look on the apothecary's face. “Oh, Mr. Evans has done nothing wrong; I just want to question him about something for Gringotts. If he comes in here again, please contact me at Gringotts,” Bill handed him a card, “William Weasley.”

“Speak of the devil, Mr. Weasley, here he comes.” Bill ducked out of sight as a youngish man, possibly in his early twenties, staggered in the door.

“M'sorry, I think I'm gonna need something a little stronger than what I've been able to brew. Do you have pre-made potions that would be stronger than the stuff in that book I bought?” Bill noticed that the man's words were slurred and that he was sweating profusely.

The apothecary pulled out two phials from under the counter and handed them to him. “Here you go, Mr. Evans. If I may, sir...I think, if I were you, I'd go to St. Mungo's and have them check me out. You really don't look very good, sir.”

“Thanks for the advice, but I hate hospitals. I'll just deal with it on my own.” The man paid for his purchase and staggered back out of the door; Bill followed at a reasonable distance. As he followed, Bill began to notice that the man's hair was changing colour; it had been a medium brown, but was slowly darkening to black. Bill stepped up his pace as the young man turned a corner and slowly trudged up a flight of stairs next to Flourish and Blotts.

Once the young man had gone inside what appeared to be an upstairs flat, Bill climbed the stairs and waited at the door. He pressed his ear to the wood and heard a loud thud; it sounded like something had fallen. He carefully opened the door and saw a body lying on the floor in front of him. He knelt down at the man's side and turned him over, not surprised to see Harry Potter's face. He ran his hand over Harry's forehead and found him to be burning with fever. Bill lifted the teen and placed him on the bed in the corner. Quickly stepping over to the floo, Bill made up his mind to call Remus and have him bring Poppy Pomfrey with him. 

~OOooOO~

Harry's world had degenerated to one of whispered conversations and blurry shapes moving about too quickly to distinguish. He knew he wasn't alone in his flat, but couldn't tell who was with him. He felt a cool cloth wipe his forehead and moaned in gratitude; the cloth felt so good against his hot skin.

Bill sat by Harry's bed, wiping away the sweat as Poppy Pomfrey cast spells to send potions directly into Harry's blood. When she had arrived, she had cast a few spells and then immediately left again without a word to either him or Remus. When she had returned, she told them that Harry was suffering from blood poisoning from the infected cuts and scrapes on his back. Remus had collapsed, sobbing, on the floor and had eventually cried himself into a stupor; Bill had transfigured a small chair into a cot for the werewolf and had levitated him onto it.

Poppy looked at Bill sternly. “How long have you known he was like this?”

“I just found him, right before I contacted Remus and had him bring you with him. I followed him here from the apothecary down the street.”

Poppy looked to him with approval. “Thank you, Mr. Weasley. You have probably saved his life. If he had gone on like this much longer, he would have died. I don't understand why he didn't go to St. Mungo's to get the cuts healed.”

“Harry hates St. Mungo's. He hates hospitals of any kind. When he was in St. Mungo's, after he defeated You-Know-Who, he practically begged me and Charlie to get him out of there. Mum heard and made sure that the healers and medi-witches knew to keep an eye on him.” Poppy chuckled slightly but then became serious again.

“What happened to him Bill?” This was the first time the medi-witch had ever used his given name and Bill stared for just a moment before answering.

“Severus Snape and James Potter happened, Poppy.” The woman's eyes widened and then she smiled with relief.

“Thank Heavens someone else knows! You don't know how hard it's been to keep my silence all these years.”

Bill's jaw dropped and Remus' eyes popped open at that pronouncement. “You-you knew?” Remus sat up on the cot, staring at the medi-witch.

“Yes, I _**am**_ the one who delivered Harry, after all. It would have been impossible for me not to have known. James swore me to secrecy; he didn't want Severus to know.”

Bill couldn't understand that reasoning. “Why wouldn't he want Snape to know that he was going to be a father?”

“Severus and James never got along. James said that their time together was just experimentation for Severus and he had never expected to fall pregnant. Can you imagine having a purely sexual relationship with your enemy and then walking up to him and informing him that he's going to be a father?” At the horrified look that crossed Remus' face, Poppy nodded. “You see, that's what James was facing. Lily proposed that they marry to cover up the pregnancy. I taught them the correct glamours to use so that everyone would think Lily was pregnant. I think James truly cared for Severus, otherwise the pregnancy would never have occurred. It takes some fairly strong magic and emotions for a male to become pregnant. It won't happen if it's only sex.”

Bill began to thank whatever deities were listening that he'd never fallen in love with any of the men he had slept with...some of them just didn't bear thinking about. Remus went pale, thinking about what must have been going on in James' mind during that time. He looked over at the unconscious boy on the bed; James had never intended for anyone, let alone Harry, to find out about this.

“What do we do, Poppy? We've found him, but what do we do?” Remus sighed heavily; he couldn't seem to get his brain to work properly, now that they'd found Harry.

Bill spoke, instead of the medi-witch. “Right now, we can't move him; he's too ill. I have some time off coming to me, so I can take that; I think it's about two or three months. We can tutor him in his classes, so that he doesn't fall that far behind. He was hiding for a reason and we need to find out what it was.”

Remus hung his head. “I think I know one reason. When Severus started giving him detentions, Harry came to me, Albus and Minerva about it. Albus said that the reasons were valid and the detentions would stand; after Harry left the Headmaster's office, I stayed and argued with him. In the end, I had to agree because I had no proof that the reasons weren't real. I had the feeling that Severus had made up most of the reasons or another student had done what Harry was being blamed for. Severus finally admitted that he had lied about the reasons for the detentions, but only after Harry disappeared. Harry stopped coming to me to talk after that; I don't think he trusts me any more.” A tear escaped out of the corner of his eye before he could stop it. “After what happened with your family and with Sirius, I was the only one that Harry had left...and I destroyed what trust he had in me.”

Poppy placed a hand on Remus' shoulder. “We'll help him to understand what happened. Now that you know Severus lied about the detentions, you'll be able to explain it to him. I'll go back to the school and bring some more potions and salves for Harry tomorrow; you two make him comfortable and see that he's stocked up on food...healthy things, not the junk that most teenagers eat!” She walked back over to the floo and left for Hogwarts.

“What do we do, Bill? Do we continue to hide him, or make it known that we've found him?”

“Well, like I said, we can't move him right now, he's too sick. We have to wait until he's healed completely before even thinking about taking him somewhere else. I would also suggest taking him to Gringotts and getting him emancipated.”

Remus stared at him in confusion. “Why would we need to do that?”

“Think about it...people have a tendency to want to use Harry for their own means. Dumbledore did it by basically requiring that Harry defeat You-Know-Who. I know that Ginny was trying to manipulate him into asking her out, but I think Harry plays for the home team. Ron was always trying to ride Harry's coattails to fame, but he never got there. I also know that Mum was forever going on about how much money and prestige the Weasleys would come in to when, not if, Ginny married Harry. If Harry's emancipated, no one can do that ever again.”

“Go back a minute...Harry's gay?” Remus seemed to have stopped listening when Bill had mentioned that piece of information.

“Well, I don't really know for certain; I've never asked him. I have, however, caught him looking at me and Charlie in a way that is anything but brotherly. Does that bother you?”

“No, not at all. I was just surprised; he'd never mentioned anything like that before.”

“Well, if he felt that he couldn't talk to you, he wouldn't have come to you with that, would he? It doesn't really matter, though, in the long run.” Bill sighed and ran his hands over his face. “We need to get some rest. Why don't you go back to the school; if we're going to keep his whereabouts a secret, you're going to have to act like you don't know where he is. I'll stay here with him; I can go to Gringotts in the morning and take my leave.” Remus agreed and left for Hogwarts.

Bill looked down at the unconscious boy on the bed next to him. “Harry, you have to get better. I don't know what I'll do if you don't.”


	7. The Return of Sirius and an Emancipation

Harry slipped in and out of delirium for two more weeks before he finally started to become more aware of his surroundings. He woke one afternoon to hear Bill and Charlie Weasley having a conversation about him.

“So...you, Remus and I are going to tutor him so that he doesn't have to go back to Hogwarts? I think we can do that. You've got Potions, Charms, Runes and Arithmancy covered; I have Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology and Remus has History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. Has he been awake enough to talk to him about this?”

“Not yet, but his fever has gone down and Poppy said that the infection is gone; it's just a matter of time before his body realises that and lets him wake up. There's quite a few things that we need to speak to Harry about; the biggest one is Remus. Remus feels absolutely horrible that he wasn't able to take Harry's side about the detentions...he said that he didn't find out, until after Harry disappeared, that Snape lied about the reasons behind them and hasn't been able to explain to Harry that he tried, but was unable to change Dumbledore's mind.”

“Does he even know we're here?”

“Yes.” Since Harry hadn't been coherent enough to speak for the last few weeks, his voice was just a thread of sound; Bill and Charlie heard it anyway and hurried to his side.

Bill ran a hand over Harry's forehead, noting that his fever had gone, and, looking into Harry's eyes, he saw that they were bright green and aware of what was happening. Bill was relieved that Harry had finally woken up enough to see them; he placed Harry's glasses on his nose and watched as those eyes focused on him.

“How long have I been sick?”

“About two weeks that I know of, probably longer than that, though. I found you two weeks ago after you used your card at the Apothecary shop; I had placed a tracer on it, so that I would be notified if you used it.” Bill paused for a moment. “Before you ask, only myself, Charlie, Remus and Poppy know where you are and that we found you.”

“Did Remus really try to fight for me? It didn't seem like he did when I went to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.”

“He can explain it better than I can, but what I understand is this: Professor Snape was lying about the reasons for giving you those detentions; he finally admitted it after you disappeared. Remus will be able to go into greater detail, but yes, he did stay and fight for you after you left the Headmaster's office. Since he couldn't prove anything, he had to let it go.”

Harry nodded, relieved that Remus hadn't rejected him, too. He had been despondent for most of the term because he thought that Remus didn't want him either. “I heard you talking about tutoring me so that I don't have to go back to Hogwarts; did you mean it? I don't want to go back there. Is there a way that I can study and take my N.E.W.T.s outside of Hogwarts?”

“Of course; it isn't advertised, but quite a few witches and wizards are completely home schooled. As long as you've met the requirements to take your N.E.W.T.s, there's nothing stopping you from taking them outside of the school.” Bill thought for a moment before speaking again. “I want to talk to you about emancipation.”

“What's that?”

“It's declaring you to be an adult before you turn seventeen. You would automatically come in to any inheritances that you have and you would be able to do magic outside of the school. Anyone who is home schooled has to be emancipated before they can start learning to use their magic. It's also done when the child is an orphan and has need of his or her inheritance early. In your case, in addition to the tutoring, it would allow us to live at one of your houses; I'm fairly certain that your father had several, since the Potters were an old pure-blood family. It would also confirm any other family lines that you are heir to, such as the Prince line.”

“Why would I be an heir to that family? Who are they?”

“Severus Snape is the Head of the House of Prince. You are his son, so you are his heir.”

Harry closed his eyes to stop tears from falling. “He doesn't want me.”

“That doesn't matter; you are his heir, whether he likes it or not. There's also the possibility of you being Sirius Black's heir. Once you are confirmed as his heir, if you are, there's no way to change it, other than your death or the birth of his own child. I think that, once you're able to walk on your own again, we should go to Gringotts and get the emancipation done as soon as we can.”

Harry looked up at him pleadingly. “Can we get someone to come here and do it? I don't want to wait; the longer I'm not emancipated, the higher the chances are of someone finding me and forcing me to return to Hogwarts. Right now, I'm just another runaway.”

Bill looked at Charlie, who nodded back. “I'll stay with him, you go to Gringotts and arrange it.”

Bill grasped Harry's hand. “I'll be back as soon as possible, alright?”

Harry nodded and laid his head back down. He wanted to be free...for the first time in his life, he wanted to be free. 

~OOooOO~

Sirius Black was torn. He had gone to Gringotts several times over the last year to have Harry removed as his heir, but something had always stopped him from doing it. If he would admit it to himself, he would have realised that it was James' voice in the back of his head, telling him that he wouldn't do something like that to Sirius' son, why would Sirius do it to James' son? If he allowed himself to think about the situation for any length of time, he thought about how unfair he had been to Harry. It wasn't his fault that Snivellus was his father and that James had carried him; it wasn't his fault that no one had ever known about it. That all rested on James' shoulders and a little on Lily's and Snape's, too.

He sat in the Leaky Cauldron and mulled over this, nursing a firewhiskey. Harry was in his sixth year at Hogwarts now...he should go to the school and apologise to him for his actions. Knocking back the rest of his drink, he stood, paid for the alcohol and walked resolutely over to the floo. Grabbing a handful of floo powder out of the public jar, he threw it into the hearth and stated, “Hogwarts, Headmaster's office!” and stepped into the green flames. 

~OOooOO~

Sirius' eyes widened and then narrowed in anger. “What do you mean you don't know where he is? Where could he be? Didn't he go back to his relatives? Didn't he come back for this term?”

“No, Sirius, he didn't. By the time we reached King's Cross, Harry had already disappeared into London.” Remus was glad that Sirius wasn't good at Legilimency; he wouldn't have been able to keep Harry's whereabouts a secret for long, if he had been. It had been hard enough avoiding eye contact with both Severus and Albus.

“Have you looked? What have you done to find him?” Sirius was getting agitated; he was blaming himself for Harry's disappearance. _If only I hadn't done that, if only I hadn't blamed him for something he had no control over. If only..._

Remus placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder to calm him. “We're still looking. We've tried tracing his magical signature, but came up empty. That would be just about the only way to find him; if he's not using his wand, there's no way to trace him. Albus has already looked at the Ministry and Harry's life force globe is still glowing, so we know he's alive.”

“What can I do? I shouldn't have reacted the way I did; it's not Harry's fault that Snape's his father.”

“No, you shouldn't have. Between you and some of the Weasleys, Harry probably feels like no one wants him. Ron, Hermione and Seamus Finnegan were expelled for thrashing Harry; they are the ones who caused him to disappear in the first place. I want you to think about something else, too...remember when I told you that I'm almost positive that Harry was abused by his relatives? I think Albus knew about it. That would just add to everything and make Harry shy away from being found.” Remus stood to leave. “I'll let you know if we find him. In the meantime, you tell me if you find any leads or clues as to where Harry might be.” Sirius nodded and Remus left Albus' office.

Sirius sighed. Even though he had been nice and agreed to see him, Remus had been cool toward him. He wondered how long it would take before he was able to repair that friendship. 

~OOooOO~

Sirius stayed at the school for the evening meal, sitting between Minerva and Remus. Two owls flew in through the high window and circled the head table before coming to rest in front of Severus and Sirius. Severus opened his letter and stared at it in shock, not realising that Sirius was doing the same.

 

_To the Head of the House of Prince_

 

_Mr. Snape,_

_As of today, Harry James Potter has been declared your son and heir. During the course of his emancipation, it was discovered that you are his biological father; James Charles Potter was his other biological father. This information supersedes the information recorded on his birth certificate, stating that Lily Evans Potter was his biological mother._

_As Mr. Potter has been emancipated, he has been granted access to all of his inheritances, excluding yours; he will not have access to the Prince accounts until your death or until you see fit to grant him access. He has also been declared the Heir to the House of Black; he will follow Sirius Orion Black in the succession._

_Ragnok_

_Director,_ _Gringotts, London Branch_

 

Sirius unfolded his letter and read it, shook his head and read it again.

 

_To the Head of the House of Black_

 

_Mr. Black,_

_Due to the emancipation of Harry James Potter, he has been declared the Heir to the House of Black. You had proclaimed him your heir two days after his birth, 2 nd August, 1980. He has gained access to all of his inheritances from the Potter estate and has been declared the Heir to the Prince family as well._

_Only upon your death will he have access to the Black accounts, unless you grant him this privilege prior to that time. Should you have a child of your own blood, that child will automatically replace Mr. Potter as your heir._

_Ragnok_

_Director,_ _Gringotts, London Branch_

 

Remus looked back and forth between the two men, confused about the emotions each was showing. Severus alternated between shock, anger and sadness, and Sirius went back and forth between shock, resignation and happiness. He finally twitched the piece of parchment out of Sirius' hand when he realised that the man had stopped reading it several minutes before. Remus had to hide his smile as he read the contents of the letter. Apparently, Bill hadn't waited until Harry was able to go to Gringotts; he had brought Gringotts to Harry. He handed the letter back to Sirius and looked at Severus; he, like Sirius, seemed to just be staring at the letter and not reading it anymore. Remus pulled the letter away and read it, again hiding his smile.

“Well, Severus, do you finally admit that Harry is your son, biologically? He may never be your son emotionally, but now there's no doubt that you are his father; the goblins are never wrong about these things.”

Severus turned to look at the other man. “What do you mean he may never be my son emotionally?”

Remus made sure that both Sirius and Severus were listening to him. “You rejected him; Harry's had enough rejection to last him two lifetimes. Imagine how you would feel, thinking you're an orphan and suddenly finding out that one of your parents isn't dead; but, the problem is this...that parent hates you, he's made it plain, over the years, that you are lower than the dust on his shoes. How do you think you'd feel?”

Severus couldn't hide the blush that lit his features. “How was I to know that he was my son? We'd all been told that he was James and Lily's son; I was never part of the equation.”

Remus sighed. “Severus, you were always part of the equation, you just didn't know it. By the way, how could you not know it? James didn't do anything that he didn't feel strongly about; if he kept going back to you, he must have had strong feelings for you. You knew what he was like; he never did anything by halves, just like Harry.” He turned to look at Sirius. “And you! How could you blame Harry for something that was beyond his control? You'll be lucky if he ever decides to speak with you again.”

Sirius bowed his head. “I know, and I don't deserve for him to speak with me. After what I did, I don't deserve for him to want to be anywhere near me.”

“You two need to think about what you've done to an innocent child. I'm going to look for Harry.” Remus stood up to leave the head table, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He looked down at Severus' hand and then up to his eyes.

“You mean you haven't found him yet?” Although he wouldn't admit it, he was worried about the boy; it didn't matter that he'd been emancipated. He was only sixteen years old and he was still missing, over four months after he had disappeared.

“No, we haven't. Half of the Weasleys and I have been looking for him almost non-stop since he left Hogwarts last term; I've been looking every weekend. We haven't seen him, nor have we found anyone who has.” Remus felt a probing at his mind and concentrated on the times that he had gone looking for Harry but hadn't found him. He knew he had been successful when Severus withdrew from his head and looked disappointed. “A word to the wise, Severus...if you _**ever**_ enter my mind again without asking, I'll rip you apart. It doesn't have to be the full moon for my wolf to come out; I just won't transform.”

The darker man went dead white at being threatened like that by a werewolf. He didn't want to find out if he could actually do it; he would just take Remus' word that he could. Severus nodded and looked down at the dinner he no longer had an appetite for.

Remus stalked out of the Great Hall, muttering under his breath about bats and dogs; the students who heard him all wondered what he was talking about. Could their favourite professor be losing his mind?


	8. Not a Muggle

Remus walked into the Hogs Head Tavern and flooed into the Leaky Cauldron. He would have gone directly into Harry's flat, but he didn't want anyone to be able to follow him there. Before he entered the tavern, he cast a glamour on himself that changed just enough of his appearance that no one could actually say they had seen Remus Lupin or where he had gone from there.

He quickly walked to Gringotts and withdrew some money before he headed to Harry's flat. He dropped his glamour before he knocked on the door so that they would know who was there. He was surprised when the door was opened by Poppy.

“Is everything alright? How's Harry?”

“He's fine Remus...well and truly on the mend. He's sleeping right now, so please be quiet.”

Remus nodded and walked silently to where Charlie and Bill sat at a small table against the wall as the medi-witch packed up her bag and left through the floo. “This is new.”

“Yeah, I figured that Harry could use a place to sit and eat once he's regained some of his strength.” Bill paused and looked at the older man. “I have a listing of all of Harry's properties. I got Ragnok to come here and do the emancipation early; Harry wanted it done now. He said that he was just another runaway until it was done and, if he was found, Dumbledore could force him to return to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he was right; until the emancipation was completed, Dumbledore was Harry's magical guardian.”

Remus' eyes narrowed. “I thought that since Sirius was his godfather, and had been cleared, _**he**_ would be Harry's magical guardian.”

Bill shook his head. “Ragnok explained that Dumbledore had set himself up as Harry's magical guardian right after Lily and James' deaths. Personally, I thought that Snape would be his guardian; he is Harry's father, after all. Ragnok said that, before the emancipation, he couldn't be Harry's guardian, magical or otherwise, until he went to Gringotts and accepted Harry as his heir; although, I guess that Sirius would make sense for that role, Harry was already declared _**his**_ heir. How did Snape take it?”

Remus chuckled, remembering the expressions that had flitted across the two men's faces. “It was interesting, to say the least. I think Severus has finally accepted that Harry is his son; receiving a letter from the Head Goblin at Gringotts was the final straw. Sirius was a little shocked that Harry would declare himself emancipated, but he accepted that his heir is now set in stone.”

“Wait...Sirius was at Hogwarts?”

“Mmhmm...he showed up just after lunch to talk to Harry, to apologise for his actions last summer.”

Charlie's eyebrows rose. “Really? I wonder if Harry would want to see him?”

 _ **“NO!”**_ All three men turned at the sound of Harry's voice. “I _**don't**_ want to see him! After what he did, he can wait for the rest of his life before seeing me.” The obstinate glare on Harry's face told them that he had already given the matter quite a bit of thought. “He rejected me when I needed him; he blamed me for something I had no control over. He can damn well wait until I'm ready to see him!”

“Language, Harry.” Bill walked over and sat on the side of Harry's bed. “I understand your feelings, though...you needed him and he wasn't there. We haven't told anyone else where you are, so there's no worries that he'll be showing up any time soon.”

Remus watched the two interact together and looked at Charlie with raised eyebrows. Charlie shrugged, grinning; he wasn't about to make any guesses at what was going on in his brother's head. Remus continued to watch, noticing how much Bill touched Harry in some small way...a hand on his arm, fingers brushing his forehead only to card through the dark hair moments later...all of these things spoke volumes without Bill having to say a single word.

Bill felt Remus' eyes on him but didn't stop what he was doing; he was trying to reassure Harry the only way he knew how, through touch. True, he felt more for Harry than he should for a sixteen year old, but Harry was of age...even better, he was emancipated; Harry could make his own decisions about what he wanted from life. Even if he didn't choose Bill, Harry was now his own man. 

~OOooOO~

Severus stalked down to the dungeons, his mind occupied with thoughts of the boy who had now been proven to be his son; his thoughts were so deep, he never noticed that he was being followed. He whispered the password to his quarters and entered, but, before he could shut the door, a hand stopped him. He turned around and looked into the grey eyes of Sirius Black.

“Invite me in. Your wards won't let me in otherwise.”

Severus stared at Black for a long moment. “Please do come in, Sirius Black.” Both men felt the wards drop and Sirius stepped over the threshold.

“I won't mince words, Snape. We need to work together to find Harry; I think Remus knows where he is, but getting it out of him will be like getting blood from a stone.”

“He doesn't know. When I looked into his mind, all I saw were memories of him looking and getting frustrated because he _**couldn't**_ find Potter. I don't think that his shields are strong enough to keep me out.”

Sirius sighed. “Don't forget, he's a werewolf...his mind works differently than a normal wizard's mind does. I can't prove it, but I'm almost positive that he knows. His body language is something that he's never been able to hide. He has a tendency to turn his body away from a person if he's lying to them; he was never very good at lying.”

“Then he's become much better at it over the years.” Severus walked over to a side table and poured a glass of brandy for each of them. “How do we get him to tell us what we want to know?”

“First thing I want to know is how long you and James were together. I didn't even know James was gay, let alone sleeping with you.”

Severus winced; he had known that someone would bring that up, whether he wanted them to or not. “Potter Sr. and I were lovers for several months. I had figured out that he was gay and I wanted to experiment with sex at the time. I believe I had thoughts of 'who better to experiment with than someone I don't care about and who doesn't care about me?'; I never knew that his feelings had evolved into something radically different.”

Sirius tilted his head slightly and gazed at the other man with something close to amusement. “You know, you slept with him, I'm assuming you kissed him, you even had a child with him; I think it's about time you called him by his given name...James. If he felt something for you, I can guarantee that he thought of you as Severus, not Snape.”

Severus didn't want to think about that; he hadn't had those kinds of feelings for James Potter. “I-I don't know. I didn't have feelings for him; I've never cared about anyone I've slept with.”

Sirius' eyes grew wide. “Why not? Why would you sleep with someone if you don't care about them?”

Severus really didn't want to go into his reasons; he knew, however, that Black wasn't going to give up that easily. “My...childhood...was not pleasant. I had been taught by my father that I wasn't worth caring about.”

Sirius recoiled but then looked at Severus closely; he could see the unease in the man's shoulders and the tense lines of his face. “Was your father abusive?”

“When he was drunk.”

“How often was he drunk?”

“Constantly.”

Sirius shook his head as if to clear it. “Why didn't you ever say anything? I wouldn't have been as bad if I had known that you were abused.”

“Why would that have made a difference? You were going to tease me anyway; why would my being abused have changed what what you did?” Severus couldn't understand where Black was going with this conversation.

“My family wasn't physically abusive, just verbally. I don't know if you knew this, but they disowned me when I was sixteen; I went to live with James and his parents for the rest of the time we were at Hogwarts. I always knew I was different from them; our views on blood purity weren't the same. It became obvious when I was sorted into Gryffindor and not Slytherin, like they wanted. I was reinstated as the heir when Regulus was killed.”

Severus stared at the other man as he sat in an armchair with his shoulders slumped sadly. He had never known that about Black; not even Regulus had mentioned that piece of information. Severus honestly didn't know what to say to him. “May I ask where we are going with this conversation?”

Sirius looked up at Severus and sighed heavily. “If Remus is correct, Harry's relatives abused him...badly. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but Harry doesn't let many people touch him; he never has. It's a trust issue. Remus told me this afternoon that he also thinks Albus knew about it, or at least some of it. If I had known, I'd have taken him out of there once I was cleared.”

“Even though you hate one of his fathers and blamed him for something he had no control over?”

“Even then. I realise now that what I did was wrong; like you said, Harry had no control over that. With what I did, what the Weasley, Granger and Finnegan brats did and what you did, I have the feeling that we're not going to be able to get near Harry for a damn long time. Did you see the family tree?”

“Yes, Albus made me make one of my own; it was enlightening. That's when I found out that Po-James had carried him.”

Sirius tilted his head slightly as he looked up at the Potions Master. “Just out of sheer curiosity, how far back does your tree go?”

Severus tightened his mouth in annoyance; what did that have to do with anything? “That particular spell only goes back three generations; it showed three generations on either side.”

Sirius sat up in the chair. “So, you're a pure-blood.”

“What? No, my father was a muggle.”

“Snape, that's impossible; that spell does trace back three generations, but what it traces is the magical blood in the line. If it showed further back than your father, he was _**not**_ a muggle.”


	9. Choosing a House and 'Finding' Harry

Harry currently sat in Remus' arms; Remus had explained what had happened that day in Dumbledore's office a little better than Bill had. Now that he knew for certain that Remus had indeed fought for him, Harry was fine with Remus knowing where he was. It was going to take a little time before everything was back to the way it had been between them, but it was definitely going to get there.

Bill and Charlie were once again at the small table, looking over the different houses that Harry now had access to. “I think that this Lion's Den would be the best for our purposes. I can change the wards to allow only the four of us and Poppy; since it's unplottable and can be placed under a Fidelius Charm, no one will know where we are.” Bill continued to examine the wards that were listed for each house. “The Potter Mansion, just outside of Hogsmeade would also work, but I think it's too close to Hogwarts.”

Harry looked up from the quiet conversation he had been having with Remus. “Wouldn't that work well, too? I mean, no one's going to think that I'm actually going to agree to live that close to Hogwarts...not with everything that's happened there.”

Charlie grinned. “Not only that, but the Twins' store is going to be in Hogsmeade; they'll be able to stop by and visit.” He began to look thoughtful. “Come to think of it, they might be the ones to go to for Potions tutoring. Look at some of the stuff they make; I'm willing to bet that they both got an O on their N.E.W.T.s.”

Bill smirked a bit before saying anything. “They did; shocked the hell out of Mum and Dad when they got their results. They had almost as many Outstanding scores as I did; none of us got as many as Percy, though. I think you may be right about them tutoring Harry in Potions; I'm sure that they will definitely make time for their little brother, no matter where we are living.”

Harry smiled broadly; this was going be fun! Bill tutoring him in Charms, Runes and Arithmancy; Fred and George in Potions; Charlie in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology and Remus in Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Transfiguration. Between the five of them, they would have all of the courses covered and, with the O.W.L. scores he had received, he could definitely take his N.E.W.T.s in all of those courses.

“So, which of the houses do you want to live in, Harry?” Bill wanted to go there first, in order to change the wards.

Harry looked at Remus. “Have you been to those houses?”

“I've been to the Lion's Den, but not the Mansion. The Lion's Den is huge; I think it would definitely serve our purposes, not to mention the fact that it's unplottable.”

“Alright then, I choose that one. Charlie, are you going to still work at the reserve in Scotland?”

“Well, I have to do something to earn money; can't just expect someone to pay my way.” Charlie was actually hoping to be able to leave the reserve; he was getting a little tired of near-misses with the dragons and two of his co-workers had died within the last three weeks, due to rampaging mother dragons protecting their young.

“No, I'll be paying each of you to tutor me.” Harry was shaking his head as he spoke. “I'm not going to take advantage of anyone...I can afford to pay you all a decent salary and, of course, your room and board would be covered as you'll be living in my home. The only one who can't live there right now would be you, Remus. You still have to teach at Hogwarts for the rest of the term.”

“True...I do have to finish out this year, but after that, I'm leaving the school; I was planning on it anyway, once we found you. You're the closest thing I have to a child of my own; since I don't plan on having any because of my 'little furry problem', it's like you _**are**_ my son.”

Harry felt tears come to his eyes; no one had ever wanted him before. No one had ever made him feel wanted like Remus and Bill had. He knew that their feelings for him were radically different; Remus looked at him as a son and Bill...Bill definitely did _**not**_ look at him as family. He wasn't sure what Bill's feelings were right now, but he was willing to try to find out.

Harry, like Bill thought, was most certainly gay; he had never told anyone because it was just one more thing to set him apart from everyone else. With the way Ron, Hermione and Seamus had reacted to who his father was, Harry was extremely glad that he had never told them about his preferences; they probably would have killed him, saviour or not. 

~OOooOO~

With a little investigation, Severus had been able to trace his father's family back almost as far as the Prince family. When Albus had been questioned, he had confirmed that Severus would be considered a pure-blood wizard, because the Snape family had all been squibs; tracing a little further, Severus had found where the squib line had started and the wizarding line had died out.

All of this, however, didn't help either Severus or Sirius get any closer to finding Harry. Severus knew that he was going to have to swallow his pride sooner or later and ask Lupin where he and the Weasleys had already looked, so that he didn't go over ground that had already been searched. He still hadn't quite accepted that Harry was his son, no matter that the goblins said he was; it was too strange and a little scary to admit that he had been so wrong about the boy and had treated him so foully.

Sirius was spending his time pissing off a werewolf. He had cornered Remus the following Monday and began firing questions at him, giving Remus very little time to formulate answers. Sirius knew that Remus could hide things rather well, so he just kept asking question after question; he asked where they had searched, when they had searched, for how long they had searched each time and during what time of day they had looked. Sirius only stopped his questions after Remus fisted a hand in the front of his robes, lifted him off of the ground and shoved him against a wall.

“Look, Black, I understand that you want to find Harry so that you can apologise to him. _**You**_ need to understand that we haven't found him yet. We all have jobs that we have to go to, so our time is limited; you can only search so much over the weekend.” Remus opened his fist and let Sirius drop to the floor. “If you're smart, you'll leave me alone for a while; making me angry isn't going to help you.” Remus turned and walked away, leaving a gaping Sirius staring at his back.

 _In all the years I've known him, Remus has_ _ **never**_ _called me 'Black'. I'm going to have to back off, if I want to try to keep our friendship alive._ Sirius walked down to the dungeons and bade Severus goodbye, telling him that he would return Friday evening. Leaving the castle, Sirius walked to the edge of the apparation wards and disapparated. 

~OOooOO~

Draco had a small gathering huddled around him as he told Blaise about Harry and what had happened to him. Blaise drew back and looked Draco in the eye. “I had wondered why you were spending time with him when you hadn't before. What does your father say about all of this?”

Draco smirked slightly before answering. “Professor Lupin showed him the family tree Harry had done; it clearly showed that Severus Snape is one of Harry's fathers and James Potter was the other. He can't figure out why Professor Snape won't just admit that he _**is**_ Harry's father; Father said that it's almost like he's waiting for something a little more definite than a _Reperio Genus_ spell.”

Terry Boot, Blaise's boyfriend, snorted delicately. “The only thing that's more definite than that is having Gringotts send him a letter telling him that Potter is his son and heir. I wonder if he's been to Gringotts yet.”

Draco shrugged. “I don't know. According to Father, Professor Lupin has been looking for Harry every weekend; he and some of the Weasleys are looking whenever they have a chance.”

“Weasleys? Why would Lupin want their help? Aren't they the ones who spread it around to begin with? I got an owl from the youngest...whatever her name is...telling me about Potter's parentage before last term even started.” Blaise crossed his arms over his chest. “I couldn't figure out why she even thought that I'd care.”

“Yes, but only some of them were like that. Professor Lupin said that the oldest two and the twins were solidly backing Harry; I know that their father helped look for Harry the day he disappeared. As to why you should care...Harry kept all of us from either dying or being forced to take the Mark.”

Blaise nodded his head slightly, acknowledging the truth of Draco's statement. “So what can we do to help? 

~OOooOO~

Draco, Blaise and Terry asked to speak with Remus that Tuesday, after the evening meal; they were going to offer their assistance on the weekends, but they would need their parents' permission to accompany Professor Lupin off of the school grounds. They had asked Lucius first, but he had suggested speaking with Remus, as he was the one closest to Harry. They walked into the teacher's office, surprised to see Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom already there.

“So, we would need our parents' permission to go with you? I think we can do that; what do you think, Nev?”

“I think Gran would let me, as long as I don't have to do anything life threatening...she still doesn't trust me very much, I think.” Neville smiled slightly, thinking about his overprotective grandmother.

Remus looked up at the three boys at his door. “Ah, Gentlemen! Come on in...I think I know what you want to talk to me about. Dean and Neville here have also offered their services and it would be good if the five of you could work together.” Remus had to get to Harry that night, before he, Bill and Charlie moved to The Lion's Den; he needed to see if anyone else could know or if he had to lead them on a harmless wild goose chase. He hoped that Harry said that it was time for him to be found; this was starting to get complicated. 

~OOooOO~

Remus was very happy; Harry had agreed to be 'found' that night. After Remus had told him about the group of five students who wanted to help look for him, Harry had decided that, once they had moved to the house later that evening, Remus could tell Lucius and Draco that Bill had found him earlier that day. Remus would say that Bill had fire-called him late that night and that he had spent the night with Harry; he would also tell Lucius about the emancipation...apparently Severus hadn't informed his friend about it.

When Remus showed up at the head table for breakfast, he looked as tired as he felt. They had spent a good portion of the night before discussing who could come see him that weekend; Lucius and Draco were to be the first, and the other students could come once they had received permission from their guardians.

“Lupin, if I may say, you look like absolute hell this morning.” Lucius was nothing, if not blunt.

“I apologise for my appearance today.” Remus drew a deep breath, steeling himself for the outburst he knew was going to follow his announcement. “Bill Weasley found Harry yesterday; he fire-called me after curfew last night and I spent the night with Harry.”

As expected, the head table erupted with questions and exclamations of surprise; the loudest coming from Minerva and Lucius. Remus held up a hand for silence and, once it was quiet, he stood and cast a _Sonorus_ on himself.

“Attention everyone! I want to make it known that Harry Potter has been found. I received a fire-call from a friend late last night telling me that Harry was safe and living in one of the houses left to him by his parents. I spent the night there, making sure that Harry was healthy and had recovered from what happened last term. He will not be returning to Hogwarts to finish his education; he has hired tutors to help him complete his schooling. There are a few people he has asked to see, so if Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, Mr. Boot, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Longbottom would meet with me after the evening meal, I would appreciate it.” Cancelling the spell, Remus sat down and applied himself to his breakfast; he ignored the elevated noise from the students and turned to Lucius. “You are, of course, invited as well.”

Lucius nodded and smiled to himself. Severus and Albus had been conspicuously absent from the list of people that Harry wished to see; Lucius wondered if Harry would ever want to see the man who, even after he was found to be Harry's father, had made his life miserable. “How was Harry able to hire tutors? He is still a minor, considering that he is only sixteen.”

“He went to Gringotts and had himself declared emancipated; since both of his parents are dead, it is allowable under the law. I knew about the emancipation; both Severus and Sirius received letters last Friday, letting them know about it.”

“Ah, I had wondered what had put Severus in such a foul mood Friday evening. How is Mr. Potter?”

“Recovering slowly; some of the cuts from the attack became infected and he had had to seek medical attention. He said that he's getting better, though.”

Lucius nodded again and looked to his left; Severus was just staring at Lupin like he had grown a second head. “Do close your mouth Severus, you look like a fish.”

The Potions Master's mouth snapped shut and he glared at Lucius. “Why wasn't I informed of this before anyone else, Lupin?”

Remus slowly turned his head to gaze blankly at Severus. “Harry said that you could find out when everyone else did. After the way you treated him, did you honestly expect him to defer to you, as if you were a caring, attentive parent?” Severus didn't answer, so Remus continued to eat his breakfast. Once he was finished, Remus made to stand and leave the Great Hall, but was stopped by an announcement from Albus.

“Professor Lupin's first class is cancelled; students who would have attended that class will report to the Library and work on their homework.” He turned to Remus. “You will come to my office.”

Remus sighed, nodded and continued on his way out of the Great Hall; he headed toward the Headmaster's office instead of his own classroom. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation. 

~OOooOO~

Remus sat in one of the overstuffed armchairs decorating Albus' office; Severus and Lucius were also present. They all watched as Albus sat in his own chair and steepled his fingers underneath his chin in thought. They all waited for the older man to speak; none of them knew what was going on in Albus' mind, not even Severus, the best Legilimens in England after the man they were waiting on.

Albus drew a breath before speaking. “Remus, where is Harry?”

“He's living in one of the houses James left to him.”

“He cannot gain access to those houses before he turns seventeen; how is it that he is there now?”

“He went to Gringotts and declared himself emancipated. He has full access to his inheritance now.”

Lucius didn't miss the flare of anger in the old man's eyes and wondered what plot Albus had been hatching in his head. He turned to look at Severus. “If he was emancipated, you should have received a letter from Gringotts informing you of this, Severus. Where is it?”

Severus flushed slightly and produced the letter from an inside pocket of his robes. Lucius took it and read what Gringotts had to say before handing it to Albus. All three watched the old man carefully as he read the letter; Lucius took careful note of how Albus went pale and made a mental note to speak to Lupin about having Harry check his accounts for discrepancies.

Albus was not pleased by this turn of events; he had plans for Harry and his money. Oh, he meant the boy no harm, but it didn't work in his favour to have Harry fully cognizant of his monetary worth. There were many laws that needed to be passed and the best way to do that was to grease the palms of the lawmakers. The Potter fortune would have helped immensely in that endeavour and, as Albus had been Harry's magical guardian, he would have had access to those vaults; that door was now closed forever.

Remus had also noted the reaction of the Headmaster and knew he had to contact Bill immediately following this meeting. He might also look into finding someone to take his place here at the school and leave permanently. He started making plans in his mind when he was brought back to reality by Albus handing Severus the letter.

“I see...” he looked at Remus, “I wish to contact Mr. Potter at once; please arrange an audience for me.”

Remus had made certain to avoid eye contact with the Headmaster by looking at his nose, long crooked thing though it was. “I will ask, but I can't guarantee that he'll see you. He was rather specific as to who he did and did not wish to see; neither you nor Severus were on the list of people he was willing to meet with.”

Lucius shored up his Occlumency shields as those twinkling blue eyes were turned on him. “You were on this list, I believe, Lucius; please...”

“No.” Remus interrupted the Headmaster before he could finish. “I won't have you forcing anyone to do your dirty work for you. If either you or Severus want to see Harry, you're going to have to contact him yourself. Owls work wonders, or, if that is too plebeian for you, I will take Harry a letter; I'm not going to allow you to make Lucius your messenger.” Remus was adamant about this; if either Albus or Severus wished to contact Harry, they would have to make an effort.

Severus' eyes darkened but he gave an abbreviated nod of acceptance. He would play by Harry's rules for now; once he got his hands on his son, there would be changes. Lucius knew how his friend's mind worked and made another mental note to warn Harry and Remus about Severus' tendencies to run roughshod over anyone in his way. Looking back at the Headmaster, he added Albus to that mental note as well. If Harry was as powerful as everyone thought, both men would have a rude awakening when it came to trying to force an emancipated Harry James Potter to do anything.


	10. Accounting Practices, Law Making and Severus Tries Again

After meeting with Lucius and the students that Harry wished to see, Remus headed to the Great Hall to use the floo. He was definitely going to cover his tracks on this trip; he went to the Hog's Head Tavern, then to the Leaky Cauldron, then back to Hogsmeade into the Three Broomsticks and then back to the Leaky Cauldron. By the time he stepped out of the floo for the last time in the Leaky Cauldron, the bartender, Tom, was looking at him as if he were crazy.

“I have my reasons, Tom...just don't ask.”

Tom nodded and went back to wiping down empty tables. He tried not to get involved in the lives of his patrons; it just made for confused thoughts and a sour stomach when he did.

Remus stepped out into Muggle London and hurried into an empty alleyway where he apparated to The Lion's Den. He ended up in the large foyer of the house; it still looked the same way it had when James and Lily had brought him here to recuperate after a particularly gruelling full moon. He was greeted by an excited looking house elf.

“Hello Jemmy, do you know where Harry is?”

“Yes, Mister Moony; Master Harry is in the library with Mister Bill and Mister Charlie. You is wanting tea?”

“Firewhiskey, please Jemmy? I don't think tea will be strong enough for what I have to tell Harry.” Remus walked through the corridors, trying valiantly to remember where the library was; it had been over sixteen years since he had been in this house. The last time he had been here was when Lily...no, James...was pregnant with Harry.

He followed the sounds of talking and laughter to find the library. As he opened the door, he found himself on the business end of five wands; Charlie had brought Fred and George to see Harry. The wands were put away to various apologies and embarrassed blushes...and two devious grins that should have frightened Remus, but only proved that the Twins were the latest incarnations of the Marauders.

“Sorry, Remus!” Harry's flush extended all the way to his ears. “I didn't think you'd be back tonight.”

“It's alright, Harry; I didn't think I'd be back either.” The house elf popped back in with the firewhiskey for them and a fizzy drink for Harry; Jemmy knew that Master Harry wasn't used to the firewhiskey and probably wouldn't like it.

Bill knew that something had to have happened after Remus' announcement that Harry had been found; otherwise, he probably would have stayed at the school. “What happened?”

The room went silent as they waited for Remus to tell them what was going on. “Bill, tomorrow, I want you to go to Gringotts and get a detailed report of Harry's vaults and how much he's worth. I want to know if the amount he's now worth is vastly different from what he was worth right after Lily and James' deaths. Both Lucius and I have reason to believe that Dumbledore has been helping himself to Harry's funds; if he hasn't been, then he was planning to.” He told them about Albus' reaction to the emancipation and that the Headmaster probably had planned on using Harry's money for something. “I don't think it would be anything bad, but I just want to make sure that he can't touch Harry's money.”

Bill nodded, knowing that Harry was worth quite a few Galleons. “Even though I'm removed from the politics of the wizarding world, I've heard that Dumbledore has a few pet projects that he's been trying to push through the Wizengamot. That's probably what he wanted Harry's money for; I'll get the reports and values tomorrow morning.”

Harry didn't want to believe that the Headmaster could do something like that; but, then again, he also hadn't wanted to believe that Ron and Hermione could react the way they had to the news of who his fathers were. He felt his shoulders slump as he sat back against the sofa; this news hit him almost as hard as Sirius' rejection had. He felt an arm slide around his back and then he was being pulled into a warm, comforting embrace; he turned his head into the hard chest to hide his tears.

Bill held the crying teen to his chest and rubbed small circles on his back, trying to comfort him. Harry had always looked up to Albus Dumbledore, almost as one would look up to a grandfather; that image had just been blown to the far corners of the world. “I don't think he'd harm you, Harry. He probably just wanted backing for the laws he wants passed.”

“I don't care; I wouldn't have had a problem with it, if he had asked...but he _**didn't!**_ He was planning on doing something with my money without my permission; that's almost as bad as physically hurting me. He's no better than the Dursleys.” Harry stiffened as he realised what he had said. He hoped that no one had caught on, but he was doomed to disappointment. He felt Bill's arms tighten and, when he looked at Remus, the expression on the werewolf's face was one of pure anger. “I'll explain later, Remus...just not tonight. You'd better get back before you're missed.”

Remus took a few deep breaths to get his temper back under control and nodded. “Oh, one more thing...Lucius seems to think that Severus will try to force you to see him. Apparently, he's the type to ignore someone's wishes when they are in opposition to his. Lucius will try to keep him from trying too hard to find you, but he doesn't know how successful he will be.”

Harry looked up at Bill with a question in his eyes. “No, Harry, he can't find you here. The house is under the Fidelius Charm and only the six of us, Poppy and your house elves know where it is; we have all been sworn to secrecy and none of the house elves will leave here without your permission anyway.” Harry nodded and relaxed back into Bill's embrace.

Remus knelt in front of his godson and lifted Harry's chin up so that they could look into each other's eyes. “I promise that I will do my best to keep Albus, Severus and Sirius away from you until you are ready to deal with them. This is just one more thing that we're going to help you handle; just remember, you're not alone.”

Harry hugged Remus before the older man went back to Hogwarts. Remus promised himself that he would recruit Lucius to help as much as possible; he didn't want anything else to hurt Harry like this. Just before he stepped through the flames, he looked at Harry, sitting in Bill's arms; he knew that Bill would be making the same promise to Harry and Remus felt a little better at leaving for the night...Bill would be there for Harry. 

~OOooOO~

Albus paced the area in front of his desk as rapidly as an old man could. It had been a month since Harry had been found and he still didn't know where the boy was. One of his new laws had failed to pass the Wizengamot because he hadn't had enough backing; another one was slated to go up for vote that day and Albus was quite certain that it would also fail to pass...he really needed the Potter fortune behind him. He didn't know why he hadn't taken the money when he had the chance; the only reason he could think of was that he didn't need it at that time and thought that he would have plenty of time to talk to Harry about supporting his laws...they would benefit Remus, to a certain extent.

An owl rapped at the window and he stepped over to allow it entry; the owl flew to his desk and held out its leg for him to remove the letter. Once Albus had removed the letter, the owl took off again, not waiting for a response. His curiosity piqued, Albus opened the letter.

 

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_This letter was sent to you to so that you know why I am remaining hidden. Remus told me that you requested a meeting with me, but you weren't willing to write a letter stating your reasons for wanting that meeting. The only place I will meet you will be in a room at Gringotts where I can be assured of my safety. I've been informed of your reaction to my emancipation; I can only assume that you were upset at the loss of my Gringotts vaults._

_I know that you had four laws that you wanted pushed through the Wizengamot and that you wanted my money behind you to get those laws passed. You do realise that all you had to do was ask for my help before and I probably would have given it. Now, however, I know that I can't trust you to have everyone's best interests at heart._

_Keeping that in mind, I requested copies of the laws you want passed (as is my right as a member of the Wizengamot myself). I have re-written them, adding some things and removing others. They no longer resemble the laws that you want in place. Once all of your 'projects' have been shot down, I will be introducing my version of the same laws. The Wizengamot will be told that they are rewrites of your laws and will be told what has been changed; this should make considering them a little more palatable to them. You will be told when my version of the laws will be up for a vote and you are always more than welcome to request your own copies of them, just as I did with yours._

_Do remember, if you will, that, just because you are Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, it does not give you the right to use someone else's money as you please._

_Sincerely,_

_HJ Potter_

 

Albus ground his teeth together, trying to relieve the frustration; this is not what he had expected from Harry. The boy hadn't had much of a backbone until now; he could only assume that his association with Lupin and the elder Weasley boys had given him the courage to stand up to him.

And, then, there was the situation with Severus. Albus knew that Severus was angry over his son's apparent defection, but there was nothing that could be done for it; the emancipation was completely legal. He also knew that Severus still wouldn't admit, out loud, that he was Harry's father; Albus believed, though, that he had finally accepted the relationship in his mind. It only remained to be seen what Severus would do to find his son. 

~OOooOO~

Lucius stared at his friend, anger beginning to boil to the surface. “You want me to do  _**what** _ ?”

“It's obvious that I will not be invited to where he is living; I want you to bring Potter to me. He needs to learn that he shouldn't disrespect his elders and, as his father, I am the best one to show him the error of his ways.” The look of predatory anticipation on Severus' face was enough to make Lucius' stomach turn over.

“Dear God!” Lucius whispered, “What are you planning to do to him?” He schooled his features to appear that he agreed with Severus. “Tell me!”

Severus smirked; Lucius was such an easy mark; just hint at torture and he was practically salivating at the thought. “Oh, nothing horrible, I assure you. He has embarrassed both Albus and myself; he needs to learn that this is unacceptable behaviour for the heir of three substantial estates. Granted, he is already in possession of the Potter fortune, but he has yet to get his hands on the Prince estate and the Black fortune. I need to speak with Black as well, but I think I can convince the mutt to come around to my way of thinking.”

“So...you're going to punish your son for taking care of himself. Congratulations Severus; you've sunk lower than I ever thought you were capable of. No, I will not help you.” He held up a hand to forestall Severus' objections. “Something that you seem to have forgotten is what the man has gone through; and, yes, I called Harry a man, because he is. Not only is there what you and the Headmaster have put him through, but there is also the beating that his former friends subjected him to; Lupin also believes that his home life with Lily's sister left quite a lot to be desired. Then, before most of that, was the stress of worrying about whether or not he was going to survive his encounters with the Dark Lord.” Lucius stared at Severus with cold eyes before continuing. “I refuse to allow you to harm Harry...if necessary, I will Obliviate you to keep you from your plans. You won't remember that Harry is your son and will have no memory of what you have planned. Do not try me; you will not win.”

Severus knew that Lucius was right; he might be one of the best at Legilimency and Occlumency, but Lucius was the Master of Obliviation. If Lucius wished for him to have no memory of Harry being his son, then there would be no memory...just a very large blank spot where the information used to be. He couldn't allow that to happen; he had finally accepted that Harry was his son by James Potter and he wasn't about to allow the boy to slip through his fingers. Severus couldn't figure out why Lucius was behaving like only the child had been wronged when neither of them had known about Harry's parentage. He didn't honestly think that Harry would hold his behaviour against him...how wrong he was.


	11. Tutoring and Coming Together

The tutoring sessions were going so well that Bill felt that Harry could probably sit for his N.E.W.T.s before the end of what would have been his sixth year at Hogwarts. As much as Harry didn't want to admit it, it seemed that he had inherited at least a little of Severus Snape's ability with potions.

“Why is it so much easier now than at Hogwarts?” Harry turned to look at Fred as he let the Dreamless Sleep potion simmer for five minutes.

Fred looked at George and they both shrugged. “I think it may be because the greasy git isn't breathing down your neck. If he's not there, making you nervous, you're bound to do better.”

Harry thought about it a little and decided that Fred was right. “I can see how that would be. He always stood over me, just waiting for me to make a mistake. Now that he's _**not**_ here, that pressure is gone.”

“Right. How much more time do you have on that potion?” George looked at the shimmery potion in the cauldron, the exact shade of medium purple it was supposed to be.

Harry looked at the muggle timer he had set on the table next to the cauldron. “Thirty seconds...and then I take it off of the heat and let it sit for ten more minutes and it's ready to bottle. I wonder if they'll let me use the timer for my N.E.W.T.s.”

Bill broke into the conversation from the corner he had been sitting in. “Yes, they will; I used one and I know Charlie did, too. They actually encourage it, so that they don't have to deal with over-timed explosions.”

The little digital timer went off and Harry moved the cauldron to the side and killed the flame on his burner. He didn't know why they weren't allowed to use the timers at Hogwarts; both he and Neville probably would have been a lot more successful if they had been allowed. He reset the timer for ten minutes and leaned against the table in thought. “What things do they usually want to see for a potion on the practical part of the exam?”

George grinned. “Usually they want something recognisable. Both Fred and I used potions of our own creation and we had to prove that they did exactly what they were supposed to.”

“What did you brew?”

“The potion for the Ton-Tongue Toffees and it's antidote. It's highly concentrated, so a single drop goes a long way. The poor tester was horrified when I told him what my potion did...until George told him that he had brewed the antidote. Needless to say, we both passed with flying colours.”

Harry chuckled slightly, trying to imagine the expression on the tester's face when he was told he would have a four foot long tongue. “I think I'll stick with something simple, like this one.”

Bill's eyebrows rose. Dreamless Sleep was not a simple potion to brew; it required constant supervision and precise stirring. “You think Dreamless Sleep is a simple potion?”

Harry nodded and smiled. “Yeah, it only takes an hour to brew, not a month like Veritaserum. I've gotten used to brewing it for myself, so I know very well how to brew it properly.”

George's eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Harry, you don't take that every night, do you?”

“No, it's addictive, so I try to use it only when I really, truly need it.” Harry smirked at the three relieved sighs that came from the brothers. He knew that they were still worried about him and he didn't want to give them any reason to doubt that he was recovering. It had taken him a little while, but, with Bill's help, he had come to realise that he didn't deserve any of what had happened to him. He hadn't deserved the abuse that the Dursleys had heaped on him; he hadn't deserved the way that Ron and Hermione had treated him; and he most certainly hadn't deserved how Sirius and Snape had treated him. 

~OOooOO~

Draco very carefully looked around him, at everyone he could see, without meeting anyone's eyes. He was being watched, but he didn't know by whom. This was the third day in a row that he felt the eyes upon him, watching his every move. He had surrounded himself with Blaise, Terry, Dean and Neville, but he could still feel those eyes.

Minerva McGonagall was watching the blonde Slytherin carefully. She wanted to know where Harry was so that she could offer her services as one of his tutors. Remus had told her that he was tutoring Harry in Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic; the strain of tutoring Harry and teaching his regular classes was beginning to show on his face. She decided that, instead of skulking around, she would just ask Remus to speak with Harry about it.

To say that Remus was relieved was an understatement. He had asked her to swear an oath that she wouldn't reveal Harry's location to anyone; she happily agreed. Remus would ask Harry if she could join his tutors and take over Transfiguration classes for him; she should know by Monday morning whether or not Harry had agreed. 

~OOooOO~

“So, you'll allow Minerva to come to tutor you in Transfiguration once a week? Will that be enough, do you think?” Remus wanted to make sure that Harry was getting the same quality of education he had been getting at Hogwarts; with him spread between three subjects, he didn't think that was happening.

“As long as she swears that she won't tell anyone where I am, or where any of you are. I'm not going to risk any of you either. I'm sure that, by now, both Dumbledore and Snape have figured out that you, Bill and Charlie are tutoring me; then there's the alternative lessons with Lucius.” Lucius had decided that Harry needed to know a little more about some of the borderline dark spells and potions that could be used and how to protect against them. Harry thought, at first, that Lucius had been trying to soften him up for something; he soon realised that Lucius was trying to impress Remus. It was kind of hard to miss when Lucius kept coming to the house only when Remus was there and he kept asking Harry questions about Remus. “I don't want either of them to try to get to me through any of you.”

Remus smiled slightly. “I don't think Minerva will try anything; she lit into Albus and Severus once she found out what they had done. Not that what Albus did was worse than what Severus did, but she was livid when she found out that he wanted to use your money to get his laws passed.”

Harry smiled in return before the smile dropped away. “Do you think that Lucius was telling the truth about threatening to Obliviate Snape?” Lucius had told them about that episode the day it had happened; he didn't want Harry and Remus to find out about it from someone else.

Remus nodded. “I know he was...Harry, there are things about Severus that he keeps hidden from most people. He's very possessive about anything he considers his; as his biological son, he would definitely count you amongst his 'possessions'.”

Harry grew angry; he was no one's _**possession**_! The glass began to rattle in the windows and the books in the bookcases began to shake. He realised that he wasn't far from losing control of his magic and took several calming breaths. Just as he got everything back under his control, the door to the Library was flung open by Bill and Charlie; they stood there, wands drawn, looking around for signs of danger. Bill flushed and put his wand away while Charlie smirked and twirled his wand through his fingers.

“Let it get away from you again, eh Harry?”

“Shut it, Charlie. You would too, if you had just been told that Snape thought of _**you**_ as a possession.” Harry stalked over to the sofa and dropped into it; this complicated things a bit. If Snape thought of him as 'his', it was going to be difficult to keep him from trying to find Harry. He looked up at Bill, his eyes unconsciously pleading with him. “How do we keep him from finding me?”

“Do you really not want Severus to find you? It might be a good idea to meet with him in a safe place; I know you told Albus that you would meet with him at Gringotts, why don't you do that with Severus?”

Both Harry and Remus thought about that for a moment; it was a good idea. “Alright, how do I arrange a meeting with him...on my own terms?”

Bill smirked slightly. “Let me handle that.” 

~OOooOO~

Remus met with Minerva the next morning to tell her that Harry wished to see her. After she gave her oath that she would tell no one where he was, Remus took her to Hogsmeade and then apparated to The Lion's Den. “Welcome, Minerva McGonagall, to The Lion's Den, home of Harry James Potter.”

Minerva gasped as the large manor house shimmered into view above them on a small hill. She had known that the Potters were extremely wealthy, but this house went far beyond anything she had seen since Malfoy Manor, which she had seen only one time. They entered through the large iron gates at the bottom of a long drive and walked a short distance to an area populated by several benches.

“This is the outside apparation point; once you're keyed into the wards, you'll be able to apparate to here and then up to the house. Only a very few of us are allowed to apparate directly into the front hall. You'll understand why we won't open up the floo for travel back and forth to Hogwarts.”

Minerva nodded and looked around her in awe; this was even more magnificent than Malfoy Manor was. The house itself was huge, rambling over a large area. She could count only two floors, but the individual wings of the house were so spread out that she knew the inside would be spacious and airy. All in all, it was the perfect house for Harry Potter.

Remus took her hand and apparated to the front door. Since she wasn't keyed into the wards, Remus couldn't actually bring her into the house without Harry's or Bill's express permission; he rang the bell and waited for a house elf to answer. The door opened, but it wasn't a house elf behind it.

Bill knew that Remus was bringing Minerva today and thought that it would be nice if a human answered the door, instead of a house elf. He smiled and welcomed them into the house. “Welcome, Minerva, to The Lion's Den. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to Harry.” 

~OOooOO~

Remus left to take Minerva back to Hogwarts after a schedule had been settled on. She would come on Friday evenings, as that was the only night she truly had free; it was the only night where she had no patrols to do and Albus didn't require her assistance with anything until the next afternoon. Minerva was pleased that she would be helping Harry; she was also pleased to see how advanced Harry had become since he was away from the stress of Hogwarts. Like Remus, Minerva began to consider taking retirement from Hogwarts and tutoring Harry full time, like Bill and Charlie were doing.

Minerva knew that something was going on between Bill and Harry; she wasn't against it, whatever it was. She was very pleased to see that Harry had such a stabilising influence in his life...Merlin knew that the poor child hadn't had much stability in his past.

Remus thought the same thing...but if he could see what was going on back at The Lion's Den right at that moment, he might not have been so certain. 

~OOooOO~

Bill and Harry said goodnight to Charlie, who went to his own rooms in the same wing as Remus'. Neither of them knew where Bill's rooms were; if they had known that they were across the hall from Harry's, they might never have left Bill and Harry alone for any length of time. That would have been counter-productive to what Harry wanted.

Bill and Harry went to their own rooms and bid each other goodnight. At his own door, at the last possible moment, Harry pulled Bill down so that their lips met. Bill stiffened and tried to break the kiss, but Harry's lips parted and he was lost; he never noticed Harry guiding him through the door. He only noticed the change in scenery when he heard the door close behind them.

“Harry...Harry, we need to stop!” Bill tried again to remove Harry's arms, but Harry was having none of it.

“No...I've wanted this for a while...you're not going to try to tell me that you don't want this, too.” Harry latched his mouth onto the nearest bit of skin, which happened to be Bill's neck.

Bill tried to keep his sanity but Harry wasn't helping in the least. With every move of Harry's lips on his skin, Bill fell deeper and couldn't seem to drag himself away. Finally he gave in and bent his head and captured Harry's mouth with his own.

Harry silently rejoiced. He had known for a while that he wanted Bill as his partner; he had thought that Bill felt the same way...he was ecstatic to know that he had been right. The last coherent thought that Harry could summon was one of slight curiosity about what Remus would do when he found them together.


	12. Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter consists of a male/male sex scene. If this squicks you, or you just don't want to read it, please move on to the next chapter.

Bill was in absolute heaven...or what he thought heaven might be like. He stopped fighting Harry about becoming lovers and began to enjoy himself; he also made sure that Harry enjoyed what was happening. Once he gave in and kissed Harry, time seemed to speed up and, before he knew how it happened, they were both nude and on the bed together.

He had a feeling that this was Harry's first time, so he was determined to make it as good for Harry as he possibly could. His mouth left Harry's and travelled down his neck, nipping and sucking gently as he worked his way to Harry's chest; he left small love bites in several places, reminders of their first night together...the first night of many.

Harry arched his back, pressing his chest up into Bill's mouth and tongue; they were heading on an inexorable path down his body and he couldn't wait to see where they were going. He almost choked on his breath when Bill's tongue gently laved a stripe from the base of his cock up to the tip; he knew he didn't have enough experience to be able to control himself for long. He felt tension coil low in his belly and, as Bill lowered his mouth completely over him and moved up and down once, he felt the tension explode.

Bill wasn't surprised when Harry came right away; he _**would**_ have been surprised if he had lasted more than a minute. He swallowed Harry's seed and kept right on bobbing his head up and down for another minute; he wondered how long it would take Harry to notice the single lubricated finger that had found its way inside of his puckered opening.

Harry slowly came down from his post-orgasmic high and realised that something felt different _down there_ ; something new had been added. As that something slowly began to move, he figured out what it was...Bill's finger. Bill's finger was... _there_! And it felt _**GOOD**_! Harry had to fight against his body not to thrust back at that finger; he wasn't sure he was supposed to do that. He felt another finger gently join the first and he sucked in a pained breath. He hadn't realised it was going to hurt.

“Relax, Love, I don't want to hurt you. Harry...Harry, you need to relax your body.”

Bill's deep voice washed over him, making him do exactly what Bill wanted him to do. His body relaxed little by little, until the fingers inside of him were moving freely. Harry felt them curl slightly, as if looking for something, and he felt like his entire lower half went completely boneless as he was hit by a wave of pleasure.

“Wh-what was _**that**_?” Harry was having difficulties breathing and his vision went all spotty after the fingers found that spot again.

“Your prostate, Love. It helps make the whole thing just a little more enjoyable. This is your first time, right?” When Harry nodded slightly, Bill continued. “I don't want to hurt you, but you need to know that it _**will**_ hurt at first. You'll get used to it, but we'll take it slowly until you do, alright?”

Harry nodded again and the fingers began to move again...in and out...in and out. Slowly, they began to pick up pace a little as he became a little more relaxed and used to the sensation. Harry's breathing began to get faster and more shallow; his cock began to take an interest in what was going on. The fingers curled again and Harry couldn't stop the moan that erupted from his throat.

“That's what I wanted to hear. I need to know how you feel, Love; you need to tell me.” Bill gently started to probe Harry's entrance with a third finger, biting his lip because he knew that this one was going to hurt his love. He took Harry's cock back into his mouth as the third finger worked its way inside.

Harry didn't know which sensation to concentrate on...the pain from the next finger or the feeling of Bill's mouth on his cock again; he chose to concentrate on Bill's mouth and tried to ignore the feeling of being filled and stretched. Harry lost track of time as Bill continued to prepare him for something that was most likely larger than the three fingers currently working themselves in and out of his backside; he felt the tension start again.

“Bill...gonna...gonna...”

The mouth was removed from his cock and the fingers stopped moving and left his body. “No, not yet you're not.” Harry opened his eyes and got the sight of a lifetime as he watched Bill coat his own cock with lube before lining it up at his entrance. “You need to tell me if it hurts too much to continue, alright? I don't want to hurt you, but, like I said...it's going to hurt some.”

Harry nodded and Bill pressed forward slightly, just enough to allow the head to slide past the ring of muscles at his entrance. Harry whimpered slightly in pain and struggled to breathe and keep from tensing; he knew, somehow, that he needed to stay as relaxed as possible, otherwise Bill could do some damage to him.

Bill held still and waited for Harry's body to tell him it was ready to continue. Once he felt the muscles relax, he pressed forward again, taking it inch by slow inch. Finally, when he was fully seated, he closed his eyes and again held still, giving Harry time to get used to the intrusion; Bill mentally started listing every warding spell he could think of in order to stave off his own orgasm. He opened his eyes and was horrified to see tears leaking out of the sides of Harry's closed eyes.

“Oh, Harry, Love, I'm sorry! I didn't want to make you cry! Please don't cry!”

Harry opened his eyes to meet Bill's worried blue ones. “I'll...be...fine.......just give me...a...minute...or two.” He took a few deep breaths and concentrated on the feeling of fullness and willed the pain to go away; he couldn't say that Bill hadn't warned him that it would hurt. Slowly the pain began to fade and Harry felt his body begin to relax again; he looked up and met Bill's eyes again and nodded...it was now or never.

Bill felt Harry's channel relax around him but waited for Harry to let him know he was ready to go on; Harry nodded to him and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips before gently pulling almost all the way out. He slid forward just as slowly, giving Harry time to get used to the motion.

Harry wasn't really sure what to think about the whole thing; it was painful, messy and seemed to take forever. Of course, that's what he was thinking...and then Bill brushed against his prostate again. The inside of Harry's eyelids lit up with shooting stars and the moan that escaped him would have embarrassed him in any other situation; right then...right then he just didn't care. He realised that the pain had completely faded and now the pleasure was making a comeback. Harry didn't know if he was supposed to be doing something, so he ran his hands up and down Bill's back, settling them on his arse, squeezing gently.

Bill gasped at the feeling of Harry's hands on his arse and couldn't help but pick up the pace a little. He heard Harry's breathing become faster and Bill realised that, though he wasn't far from orgasm, Harry was nowhere near it. He wrapped one hand around Harry's erection and began to gently pull in time to his thrusts; he tried to hit Harry's prostate again, knowing he had been successful when Harry arched off of the bed and his cock leaked an almost steady stream of pre-come.  Bill kept thrusting at that angle, determined to bring Harry off before he came. After several minutes of thrusting, trying to hold back his own orgasm and listening to the beautiful moans coming from Harry, he heard the most wonderful sound.

“Ah, ah, ah... _ **BILL!**_ ” Harry's voice raised an octave when he reached his second climax, his body shaking violently. The walls of Harry's channel tightened almost painfully around Bill's cock as he kept thrusting into his lover's body; he followed Harry over the edge four thrusts later, calling Harry's name and shaking quite a bit himself. He lowered his body carefully to one side; he was not going to withdraw from Harry until his erection had softened a bit. He had already made Harry cry once, he wasn't going to do it again.

Harry reached out a hand and gently cupped Bill's cheek. “Love you.” Harry's eyes closed and he immediately dropped into sleep. Bill fought Morpheus' call for a few minutes but, in the end, gave into the mind-numbing exhaustion after pulling the duvet over them so that they didn't get cold. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Harry's smiling lips. “Love you, too.”


	13. Oh, My Eyes

Harry woke suddenly, realising that something was different; he stretched out his senses carefully, trying to figure out just what was different. He heard the sounds of breathing from behind him, the feeling of an arm around his waist, and the memories rushed back in; he had slept with Bill...he had _**slept**_ with _**Bill!**_ Harry's breath stopped in his chest as the implications of what he'd done hit him with the force of a brick wall. What if Bill didn't want him any longer? What if he was disgusted because Harry had come on to him first? Would he think that Harry was going cry rape? What would...

"You can stop thinking whatever you're thinking right now." The sleep-deepened voice of the man behind him brushed over his nerves, causing Harry to shiver in response. "We both wanted this. I'm not sorry it happened; are you?"

Harry flipped over to stare into Bill's sleepy eyes and shook his head. "No...I'm not sorry; I don't regret it in the least. I just..." Harry took a deep breath, "I don't want you to think that it was a mistake."

"Ah, Harry." Bill's lips found Harry's and pressed a small kiss on them. "It definitely was not a mistake. I was worried that you would think it was; I mean, you're only sixteen. You may be an adult in the eyes of the wizarding world, due to the emancipation, but you're almost ten years younger than I am."

"I don't care how much younger than you I am, I wanted this...I-I love you!" The blush that spread over Harry's features at this pronouncement was one of the most adorable things Bill had ever seen. He leaned in and kissed Harry again, not complaining when Harry's lips parted to deepen the kiss. Bill felt the bedside table to find a wand and cast a silencing spell on the room...but he forgot to lock the door... 

~OOooOO~

Remus returned from seeing Minerva back to Hogwarts; he was happy that he wasn't going to have to teach Transfiguration to Harry anymore. Not that he minded teaching Harry, but the three subjects plus teaching all week at Hogwarts was beginning to wear on him. He sighed heavily, not looking forward to going back to Hogwarts in the morning; it was Tuesday, so he had the sixth year Slytherin/Ravenclaw class first thing. Draco was a nice kid, but he kept pestering Remus about when he could see Harry again.

Seeing that the study and Library were empty, he guessed that everyone had already gone to bed; it was late and, with the lessons he had had today, Harry was bound to be tired. He shuffled up the stairs and turned to go down the hallway to his room when he smelled it. Sex...the entire west wing smelled like _**sex**_. Not just wanking in the shower sex, but down and dirty, getting it on, making of the two backed beast sex. Remus knew that his sense of smell was heightened during the week leading up to the full moon, but this... _ **hell**_ , Bill would be able to smell this!

Remus' lips tightened and he scowled as he stared at the door that belonged to the former curse breaker. He was almost frightened to open the door; he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know whether the room was empty or not. Quietly he crept up to the door and pushed it open...his relief knew no bounds when the room proved to be empty and silent. He looked across the hall at Harry's door; contrary to Harry's belief, he _**did**_ know where Bill's room was. He had thought it was a good thing, having Bill be close to Harry; if Harry had a nightmare or something, Bill was right there for him...now, he was not so sure.

Remus cast a silencing spell on Harry's door, so that it wouldn't make a sound when he opened it. Slowly he turned the handle to the door and pushed it open, peeking his head around it as soon as a large enough gap had appeared; he was not, in any way, shape or form prepared for what he saw.

As Remus got a good eyeful of Bill's hips and arse pistoning back and forth into his godson, he was assailed by memories of said godson as an infant. He saw himself holding a two day old baby; he saw himself changing horribly smelly nappies; he saw himself and Sirius lying on the floor, tickling Harry until he giggled and blew spit bubbles at them; he saw James and Lily looking at their baby son with pride and joy. He quietly closed the door and, like a zombie, made his way back down the stairs to the study...and the alcohol. He never saw Lucius or the worried frown that crossed the blonde's face as he watched Remus head straight for the sideboard containing the muggle liquors.

Lucius had never seen such a haunted look on the other man's face; it was as if all the life had been drained out of him. Lucius had only stopped by to see how the meeting with Minerva had gone; he knew that Remus was quickly becoming exhausted by the combination of tutoring and Hogwarts. He was hoping he could talk the werewolf into retiring after this term; granted, Remus was only 37, but the years of transformations and hard living had taken their toll. Remus sat heavily on the small sofa across from him and Lucius took the time to examine him.

The man's sandy brown hair was liberally sprinkled with grey and there were lines around his amber coloured eyes. Those eyes, right now, were tired and strained looking, as if he was remembering something that was not entirely tasteful to him. His body had filled out somewhat, since finding Harry again; Remus would always be on the thin side, but he had at least lost the emaciated look that he had worn for years.

"Knut for your thoughts, Remus."

The smooth voice startled Remus badly enough to make him jump; his wide eyes found Lucius carefully watching him, as if the other man didn't know exactly what he was going to do now that he was no longer alone. Remus sighed and rested his head against the back of the sofa; he wasn't sure he wanted to share what he had seen upstairs. He shook his head slightly, letting Lucius know that he wasn't willing to talk about it. He felt the cushion next to him depress as he was joined on the sofa.

"If this is about Harry and Bill, you knew this would happen eventually."

Remus' head shot back up and he stared at Lucius. "How...how did you know?"

Lucius smiled, "I almost disturbed them earlier when I got here. I was looking for you and came across them in the hallway, next to Harry's door, locked at the lips. I wasn't expecting that, so I came back down here; I must have been indisposed when you arrived."

Remus had to chuckle at the phrasing of Lucius' words. "Luc, no one uses the word 'indisposed' anymore." He sighed and looked back down at his drink. "You're right, though, I knew this would happen..I just wasn't expecting it to be now. Harry's only sixteen...I had hoped they would wait until he was at least seventeen."

"Why? If Bill is so good for him...and you have said that he is...why would you hope that they would wait?"

Remus looked up at Lucius and the older man was surprised to see tears in those beautiful amber eyes. "I remember him as a baby; I changed his nappies; I burped him after a feeding. I remember the look of pride and love in Lily's eyes whenever she saw her son. What I saw tonight forever changed the memories I will have of my godson; no one wants to see someone they regard as a son in the middle of being pounded into the mattress."

Lucius' eyes closed for a moment as he struggled to control his laughter; he didn't think that laughing would further his cause right at this moment. "Remus, you can still have those memories of Harry as a child, but you need to realise that he is now an adult. He can choose who to associate with...and who to sleep with. Granted, I do understand your point; I would never want to see Draco in that kind of situation." Lucius slipped an arm around the still teary-eyed man and pulled him into a hug. "I can think of one thing that might get your mind off of this."

"What?"

"This."

Lucius pulled Remus in even further and covered his lips with his own. He ignored the stiffening of the man in his arms and kept the kiss gentle...until he felt Remus begin to respond. Lucius ran his tongue over Remus' lips, asking for entrance; he inwardly rejoiced when the lips beneath his softened and parted. Lucius tried not to smirk when Remus lifted his wand and cast locking and silencing spells on the room.


	14. Embarrassment and Meetings

To say that breakfast the next morning was awkward was a serious understatement. Harry had walked into the study at 6 that morning to grab his trainers and had discovered Remus and Lucius intertwined with each other on a transfigured sofa. Harry had stared for a moment before shaking his head to see if it was just a hallucination; Lucius would have laughed, but he didn't want to wake Remus.

"Were I you, Mr. Potter, I wouldn't say anything; Remus discovered you and your sleeping partner in the middle of it last night." Harry blushed bright red before turning and walking out of the room without the trainers he had gone in to get.

So, sitting at the breakfast table were three embarrassed men, one highly amused man and one very confused man. Charlie looked from one to another before shaking his head; he wasn't going to ask, it wasn't worth the loss of his sanity. As soon as breakfast was done, Remus and Lucius left for Hogwarts and the rest retired to the Library; Harry wanted nothing to do with the study at the moment.

An hour after Charlie had started his Herbology lesson, an owl pecked at the window; Bill let her in and took the letter, casting revealing spells on it before handing it to Harry. Charlie paused the lesson so that Harry could read the letter.

"It's from Dumbledore; he wants to meet with me. This says that he agrees to meet at Gringotts on my terms...I wonder if he knows that means he will be under binding spells for the duration of the meeting."

Bill chuckled. "I can guarantee he doesn't. He won't think of things like that; he thinks you'll just go along with him on..." Bill broke off as two more owls flew through the window and were forced to land in front of Bill instead of Harry; he removed those letters and checked them over as well. He snorted as he removed a tracking spell from one letter. "Someone thinks they're being smart...I'd be willing to bet that it's Snape."

Harry nodded once he had opened the letter. "Yeah, it's from Snape; he's also agreeing to a meeting on my terms." He picked up the third letter, figuring it was from Sirius; he was proved right. "Sirius agrees to the same terms." He looked up at Bill. "Could you arrange a room at Gringotts? I want the highest security, at least two goblin guards, and binding spells on everyone."

"Everyone? Even you?" Bill's eyebrows rose.

"Even me...I don't want to be able to use my magic if I get angry; they won't be able to protect themselves from that. I'm almost guaranteed to get angry, though, so it's really for my own protection; if they can't use spells, neither can I, you or anyone else there with me."

"Alright, who do you want there?"

"Me, you, Remus and Charlie. Any more than that and we'll have all my tutors there; I don't want Snape to find out who's tutoring me in Potions and I don't want Dumbledore to find out that Professor McGonagall is tutoring me at all."

"Why do you want me there then?" Charlie couldn't figure out why Harry wanted him at the meeting.

"Well, it's either you or Lucius. If you don't want to go, it might be better if Lucius did go; I chose you because I think, if it came down to it, you would be best in a physical fight." Harry grinned at Charlie who just laughed.

"Yeah, I can see that...Severus Snape takes a swing at you and I get to deck him. Maybe both Lucius and I should go; he's just about the only one that can control Snape when he gets going."

Harry thought about that for a minute...it wasn't a bad idea; he told Charlie that he would think about that. "In the meantime, if you could see if you could arrange it for this Saturday, I'd appreciate it." Bill leaned down and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips before heading out to Gringotts.

Charlie looked at Harry, wondering just what was going on between him and his brother. "So...you and Bill are a couple now?"

Harry blushed and nodded his head. "Yeah, I think we are. We haven't really talked about it, though."

"Judging from the kiss, I think I can honestly say that Bill considers you a couple. He doesn't just go around kissing people and, to my knowledge, he hasn't kissed you where anyone could see it before...has he?" Harry shook his head. "Well, the fact that he'd kiss you in front of me tells me that he wants to be with you and is kind of staking his claim...not that I'd steal you away. I have my eye on someone else."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Who?"

"Uh-uh, no way. I need to make sure that person wants me as much as I want them."

"Okay, that tells me that I know the person, so it has to be someone who's been here. Hmm...Draco."

Charlie's jaw dropped open and his eyes widened. "How did you...no, never mind...I don't want to know how you knew. Just get back to the lesson." 

~OOooOO~

Albus and Severus stood outside of the door to the private conference room Harry had reserved for this meeting; they were not willing to go in if their magic was going to be bound. Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Lucius, who nodded back and rose gracefully from his chair. He walked silently to the door and stood looking at the two idiots just outside of the doorway.

"Gentlemen...you both agreed to attend this meeting on Harry's terms; those terms are that you surrender your wand to the goblins and have a binding spell cast on you for the duration of the meeting. He suggested this for the safety and well-being of everyone in the room; this way, no one can cast spells at anyone else if they get angry. Everyone in the room has already been bound...now if you don't mind, you're holding this up."

Albus reluctantly handed his wand to the goblin standing next to the door and submitted to the indignity of a binding spell; they were usually used on children whose accidental magic proved to be very strong and uncontrollable. Severus glared at his son before handing his wand over and allowing the spell to be cast on him. They took seats across the table from Harry, Bill, Remus and Lucius and next to a resigned Sirius Black; Charlie Weasley stood off to one side with the three goblin guards, watching for any sign of an altercation.

"Alright, you asked for this meeting, Potter; what did you want?" The sneer on Severus' face seemed to be a permanent fixture; Harry was going to change that.

"I merely thought it was time to acknowledge several facts. First...you, Severus Snape, are my biological father; James Potter was my other biological father. Second...you, Sirius Black, are one of my godfathers; the other is Remus Lupin. Third...you, Albus Dumbledore, are my former mentor and someone I had looked up to until recently. I have heard many things about each of you, not all of them are flattering.

"You, Albus, wanted to use my money to further your goals with the Wizengamot. Do you realise that all you really had to do was ask and I would have, most likely, given you the money? But you didn't; you planned to take some of my money and use it to bribe certain members of the Wizengamot, so that they backed your law proposals. It's amazing that you were once the head of that group, but now they no longer trust you enough to even let you vote for the Dumbledore seat; I've heard that Aberforth is voting for you now." Lucius looked stunned at this pronouncement; he was going to have to check up on this one.

Harry turned to Sirius, who bowed his head, accepting whatever Harry was going to say...he deserved every word. "Sirius, just when I needed you the most, you turned on me. Seeing your reaction is probably what made Ron and Hermione act the way they did; true, they were disgusted, but I think that, if you had shown me acceptance, they would have gotten over it...but, you didn't. You don't know how much it hurt that the man I had looked up to like a father turned his back on me when he realised that my parents weren't who he thought they were. Everything that I had been taught by the Dursleys came back to me...I was worthless, useless, a freak. Thanks ever so much for the self esteem boost." Bill looked at Remus and nodded his head; he would be talking to Harry more about this subject.

"And, last of all, Severus Snape. Everyone in this room knows exactly what Snape has done to me." Harry's use of Severus' last name didn't go unnoticed by anyone. "Even when you were shown proof that you are my biological father, you didn't want to admit that you might be my other parent. Instead of talking to me or even to Remus about it, you chose to persecute me; you gave me more detentions than any other Hogwarts student has ever had to serve...not a distinction that I am proud to claim. Not only that, but they weren't even deserved; they were for what someone else did. Ron and Hermione learned how to manipulate you, after Neville blew up his cauldron and I received the blame for it; most of those detentions that I served during my fifth year at Hogwarts were for things that they did. Not once did you even think about making things right...you just kept right on making me serve detentions. It did have one positive effect, though; I received an O on my Potions O.W.L." For a brief moment, Severus looked as if he wanted to cry; he controlled it and tried to regain his sneer. He hadn't considered that he, of all of them, had done the most damage to Harry's sense of self worth...but Harry wasn't done with him yet.

"The goblins here at Gringotts have proved to be extremely nice and very reliable. They came to me to perform my emancipation when I was unable to go to them and Ragnok, the director, was able to remove blocks on my magic. I wonder, Snape, if you realised what you were doing when Dumbledore had you place a block on me. He just gave you the incantation and told you to do it, right?" At Severus' nod, Harry nodded in return. "I thought so. For those of you who don't know, I am talking about an episode during my first year at Hogwarts; since I was raised by muggles, I was never taught how to control my accidental magic. Dumbledore told me that Snape would be casting a spell on me that would allow me to control it much better; what it did was block almost 40 percent of my magical core from functioning. I defeated Voldemort using less than 65 percent of my total magical ability. Ragnok removed the block during the emancipation; he had to place a containment field around the flat I was staying in or the release of my magic could have levelled Flourish and Blotts and every other building within a 3 kilometre radius of that building. If you had known what the spell did, Professor, would you have done as Dumbledore asked?"

Severus and Sirius were in complete shock; Lucius and Remus were not far behind. Bill and Charlie had been there for the emancipation and had been knocked unconscious from the backlash of Harry's magic. Only Albus Dumbledore had known what the spell would do to Harry's magic. Severus slowly became aware that Harry was waiting for an answer. "No, had I known what the spell did, I would have refused to cast it."

Harry nodded; Severus may be a horrible father but he had a fairly well developed sense of right and wrong, it's what led him to be a spy. "Albus, you knew what the spell did and you had Severus cast it for a reason. I'm going to guess that, if the block was discovered, it couldn't be traced back to you. You aren't the wonderful 'grandfather' that you portray yourself as; if you were, you wouldn't have done something like that to the one person you believed could destroy Voldemort." Three quarters of the people in the room flinched (not including the goblins); only Harry and Albus didn't. "You also wouldn't have been contemplating using me for my money. I realise that Snape didn't know what the spell did, but if it came out, the spell could only be traced to him, not to you. At one of the Wizengamot meetings I asked if, in such a case, would they take memories as evidence exonerating the caster of any kind of maliciousness; they would not. The only evidence that would have been needed to convict Snape of any wrong-doing would have been his magical signature on the spell itself; he would have spent 5 years in Azkaban for casting that spell."

Harry looked back at Severus. "Now that I've cleared you of any wrong-doing in relation to that spell, you should have known what spell you were going to cast. For all you knew at the time, it could have killed me and then where would that have left you? Did you hate me so much, even then, that you would cast an unknown spell on me?"

"I thought the same as you, that the spell would help you control your outbursts of accidental magic; that is what Albus told me it would do. I had no idea that he would lie to me about it." Severus didn't know why he was defending himself to his own child, but he felt that he needed to.

"Is Albus Dumbledore such a paragon of virtue and honesty that you feel absolutely no need to question him or his motives? Personally, I think he decided to use that spell so that, just in case I did actually win, he would still have control over me; after all, who wouldn't trust the person who arranged for them to be able to control their magic. If you had thought about it, just a little, you might have realised that I had no control because I was raised by muggles; every other muggle-born or muggle-raised student was given instruction on how to centre their core and stabilise their magic. I was not given these lessons, nor any other lessons that muggle-born students usually receive. I found out, in my third year, that there was a specialised class held every evening, for the first month of the students' first year, for those students who weren't lucky enough to be raised in the wizarding world.

"So, to recap...We have a manipulative Headmaster who wants to control me and my money; we have a parent who doesn't want to believe he's a parent and so makes his child's life miserable; and, last but not least, we have a godfather who refused to accept the proof right before his eyes and also made that same child miserable. You all wondered why I ran away; well, there it is in a nutshell. I want nothing to do with you, Dumbledore. You made what childhood I had completely and utterly horrible; I think you knew what was going on at the Dursleys' but you refused to take me away from them. You needed me malleable and, for a while, you got what you wanted, but no longer. I'm not too sure about you, Sirius. It's going to take me a long time to get over what you did; I am open to trying to work things out, but, again, it will take a while before I trust you again."

Harry turned to look at Severus. "You are my biological father. You _**should**_ have some scrap of emotion stuck in your chest for just such an occasion as this, but I honestly don't think you do. I'm not sure I can ever forgive you for what you've done to me. You humiliated me, you debased me by making me feel lower than pond scum, you encouraged others to do the same and you have not once... _ **NOT ONCE**_...apologised to me for being wrong. All these years you've accused me of being an arrogant prat, just like my father; wouldn't that father be _**you**_ , as well as James Potter?" Harry stood, signalling the end of the meeting; Bill, Remus and Lucius all stood as well and Charlie joined them at the table. "This meeting is over. Dumbledore and Snape, I don't want to hear from you. Sirius, I will contact you through Remus if I do want to see you; until then, don't send me letters or any kind of communication. I need to think things over. Good day... _gentlemen_." No one missed the subtle stressing of the final word.

Harry left the room and was escorted to another room where everyone in his party had left their cloaks and wands. They all stood still as Ragnok removed the binding spells and they flooed from that room directly to The Lion's Den. Harry collapsed in Bill's arms, sobbing; Bill lifted Harry in his arms and took him to his bedroom. Lucius wrapped his arms around Remus, comforting him as best he could. Charlie looked around for a moment, then fire-called Minerva to see if he could come to the school for the afternoon...there was a delectable blonde that he wanted to see.


	15. N.E.W.T.s, Charlie and Draco and Sickness

Life continued in much the same vein as it had before the meeting; Harry was tutored on a daily basis and began to prepare to take his N.E.W.T. level tests. Fred and George concentrated their lessons on the Dreamless Sleep potion, as Harry had decided that that potion was the one he was going to use for his practical. Charlie focused on the Herbology and CoMC lessons that Fred and George told him were on their N.E.W.T.s. Bill, Remus and Minerva weren't sure what would be on the tests for Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, History of Magic, Runes and Arithmancy, so they went over everything. Harry knew that he would definitely be prepared when he took the tests.

A letter arrived just before Easter, telling him when his N.E.W.T.s were going to be held and in what room at the Ministry of Magic building they would be held in. Harry had two weeks from that date to finish his studying and preparations.

Bill and Lucius escorted Harry to the Ministry on the day of his first two tests, Potions and Transfiguration. The next three, CoMC, Charms and Runes were held the next day; the final four, Herbology, Arithmancy, History of Magic and DADA were held the day following that. Harry finished his DADA N.E.W.T. practical knowing that he had done well on all of the tests; he knew he would receive an O on both the DADA and Charms tests and was hoping for at least an E on all of the rest.

Two weeks after the tests, Harry received a letter from the Ministry listing his grades.

 

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_The Ministry of Magic is pleased to inform you of the grades you received on your recent N.E.W.T tests. Your grades are as follows: _

_**Arithmancy** : O_

_**Care Of Magical Creatures** : O_

_**Charms** : O+_

_**Defence Against the Dark Arts** : O+_

_**Herbology** : E_

_**History of Magic** : E_

_**Potions** : O_

_**Runes** : E_

_**Transfiguration** : O_

_**The breakdown of the grades is as follows:** _

_O - Outstanding_

_E - Exceeds Expectations_

_A - Acceptable_

_P - Poor_

_D - Dreadful_

_T - Troll_

_Congratulations on passing all of your N.E.W.T. tests._

 

_Mirwenda Gravesend_

_Head, Department of Magical Education_

_Ministry of Magic_

 

Harry ran to find Bill, eager to share his grades; he found him in the kitchen with Charlie. Both older men congratulated him and Bill suggested that Charlie get some butterbeer for them to celebrate with. Remus joined them and it became quite a celebration; Lucius, Draco, Fred, George and Minerva all joined in later that evening as it was Friday and everyone could be there for Harry. 

~OOooOO~

Charlie woke suddenly, as if he had been prodded by a hot poker; he tried to get his bearings when he realised he was not in his room. If the room would stop spinning, he might be able to figure out where he was; but it just seemed to want to torment him and kept right on spinning. He heard a groan from next to him and he tried to turn his head without getting the urge to sick up on whomever was there...nope, not happening.

Draco groaned but lay still; he wasn't going to move and possibly embarrass himself in front of the person he could feel pressed up against him. He heard a pop and a phial of something was pressed into his hand; cracking open his eyes, he recognised a hangover reliever. Ecstatic, he slowly brought the phial to his lips and emptied it, sighing in relief when the world stopped moving and he could actually open his eyes. He looked over at his companion and noticed the phial of potion in his hand; he didn't seem to be able to bring it to his mouth and was slowly losing his grip on the glass. Draco took the phial and gently helped Charlie swallow the potion, carefully laying his head back down until the potion took effect.

Charlie tried to control his stomach and keep the potion down; his entire night after Remus had shown up was a blur. The werewolf had brought a selection of liquors, both muggle and wizarding, and they had all spent the night trying to see which mixtures tasted best and which ones were rather disgusting. Minerva had stuck with a few shots of single-malt scotch whiskey, Laphroaig by name, and laughed at their expense. She had left at around 1:00 in the morning, leaving them to sort themselves out. Charlie remembered kissing Draco at least once, but not much after that; he was hoping he hadn't coerced the blonde into doing anything he wasn't ready for. He sighed in relief as the hangover potion began to work and he realised that he was still fully clothed.

Draco had vague memories of being kissed soundly by the man next to him, but wasn't sure if it had been the alcohol or if Charlie had really wanted to kiss him. He was answered when the redhead leaned over him and kissed him again.

"Stop me if you don't want me to kiss you again." Charlie felt his heart lurch when Draco lifted his hands and placed them on his chest; his heart resumed its normal pattern when those hands slid around his neck and pulled him back down.

After the need for air made them break apart, Charlie cupped his hand on Draco's cheek. "I'd love to be with you, but I'm not sure how your father would take it; I am a Weasley, after all."

"Father's with Remus...I don't think he has any room to say anything. However..." Draco met Charlie's gaze with his own, "we are not going any further than kisses and the occasional grope until after 5th June."

Charlie's brow crinkled in thought. "Okay, but can I ask why?"

"I turn seventeen on the 5th of June. I want to wait until I'm considered an adult before...well, before." Draco flushed as he tried to get his point across to the gorgeous redhead; he hoped Charlie understood what he was trying to tell him.

Charlie understood...Draco was telling him that he was a virgin. This was unexpected; he had heard stories about Draco Malfoy making his way through the boys and girls in Hogwarts. But, then again, Ron had told him those stories, so chances were that they weren't true. "I understand...I think I'd like to wait until after that, too. I know what I want, but I want you to know what you want as well. I'd also like to have your father's permission to date you; I know it's a bit old fashioned, but that's the way I am. Do you think he'd agree?"

Draco leaned across his Weasley and grinned. "I'll make sure he does." As their lips met again, Draco began to think of everything he could use to counter any arguments his father might have. 

~OOooOO~

Harry woke slowly, trying to control his rolling stomach. He had stuck with butterbeer, not wanting to become too drunk to remember his own name; Bill had done the same, but that couldn't be said for everyone else. Bill had seen Minerva back to her office at Hogwarts at about 1:00 in the morning, wanting to make sure that the older witch didn't splinch herself; neither one of them knew how much she had had to drink and they didn't want to be responsible for stray body parts ending up where they didn't belong.

Harry's stomach rolled again and made a quick trip to the loo a necessity. He scrambled off of the bed and dived into his en suite bathroom; he made it just as the contents of his stomach made a reappearance...maybe he shouldn't have had that last butterbeer with the meat pie he had eaten. He felt a cool cloth on the back of his neck and realised that Bill must have heard him being sick.

"C'mon, Love, let's get you back to bed. I didn't think butterbeer would react like that."

"Had that pie, too...must have been that."

Bill led Harry back to the bed and tucked him under the covers. He continued to run the cloth over his face, wiping away the slight sheen of sweat. "Love, I'm going to get Remus, if he's not still drunk. I want him to have a look at you; butterbeer and meat pies shouldn't do this to you."

Harry huddled underneath the blankets on the bed, hoping that Remus wasn't too drunk to be able to run a scan. He hated being sick and just wanted the nausea to stop.


	16. Oh My (Again) and Decisions

Remus, as it turned out, wasn't even in the house. Because he had to supervise a day-long detention that day, he'd had to leave at about 7:00; Lucius had made sure that everyone would be given a hangover potion before leaving for the school with Remus. Bill was at a loss as to what to do at this point; he didn't know any of the medical scans necessary for testing to see what was wrong with Harry and he didn't want to call Poppy at the school to test him. She wouldn't appreciate it, considering that the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor game for the Quidditch Cup was being held that day.

Charlie and Draco wandered into the dining room looking for breakfast, so Bill asked if either one of them knew the scans to see what was wrong with Harry; fortunately, Charlie knew of two different scans.

"Yeah, we have to know some of the basics on the reserve, just in case; it wouldn't do to try to treat an injury without knowing what's wrong. Is he still in your room?"

"Yes, he curled up on the bed again as I was leaving. He said that the meat pie he ate must have reacted badly with the butterbeer, but I don't know; I've not heard of butterbeer having that kind of effect, unless the person was already sick."

Draco shook his head. "It shouldn't have that effect at all...I've had plenty of it while being ill and have never sicked up from it. Could it be something else? Did he have any of the other stuff?"

"No, just the butterbeer and whatever there was around to eat."

Charlie thought about it for a moment...and it hit him like a bludger to the head. He knew that Bill was in love with Harry and he was almost positive that Harry felt the same for Bill. Thinking back on James Potter's situation...could Harry be pregnant? 

~OOooOO~

Bill gently woke Harry when the three of them got back to Harry's bedroom; he had immediately fallen asleep again when Bill left to get Remus. "Harry, Love, wake up...Remus wasn't here, he had to head back to the school with Lucius. Charlie knows a couple of basic scans that should tell us what's wrong."

Harry groaned and rolled over to face them, but continued rolling out of the bed and shot off toward the loo; Charlie's eyes met Bill's and he had to hide his grin when he saw the worry in his brother's eyes. It seemed that Bill had forgotten what could happen when two men loved each other and forgot to use contraceptive spells; Charlie was actually looking forward to being the first to know he was going to be an uncle.

They heard the flushing of the loo, followed by the sound of Harry furiously brushing his teeth; he slowly padded back over to the bed and sat on the edge, looking piteously up at Charlie. "What's wrong with me? The last time I felt like this, I had food poisoning from Hermione's cooking."

They all chuckled as Charlie raised his wand. "Lie back and let me scan you; we'll find out what's wrong." After Harry had laid back on the bed, Charlie muttered the scanning spell and ran his wand down Harry's body, starting at his head; he wasn't expecting a roll of parchment to spit out of the end of his wand, listing every injury Harry had ever had. "Um...Harry? You realise that your injuries aren't supposed to take up four feet of Ever-Last Parchment...right?"

Bill sat next to Harry on the bed, so that Harry could hold on to him as Bill explained. "Charlie, there's a lot about Harry that we haven't told anyone. I'll tell you later, if Harry says I can, but, for right now, let's concentrate on that scan."

Charlie nodded, worried for his friend; he really wanted to know what the parchment had on it, but would wait for Bill's explanation. "I'll use the scan that shows what's wrong in a projection." He said a different incantation and a three dimensional, see-through projection of Harry's body appeared above him; as his wand moved over Harry's body, the injuries and problems flared red on the projection...it lit up like a Christmas tree. None of them had noticed that Draco had picked up the parchment and was reading the results, his eyes widening and growing horrified. When the scan reached Harry's abdomen, it flared green on the projection and Charlie stopped, staring at the view of Harry's body.

"Well...I've found the problem; though, I don't think it's going to be much of a problem."

"What is it? What's wrong with him?" Bill's voice was tight; he knew about some of the abuse at the hands of the Dursleys, but he was afraid that there was something more that he didn't know about.

"Congratulations you two...you're going to have a baby."

Dead silence greeted Charlie's words; neither Bill nor Harry had expected that. Harry cautiously looked at Bill and saw the stunned look in his eyes give way to excitement.

"Are you sure?" Everyone could hear the suppressed emotions in Bill's voice.

"Yes...do you see the green area? That means that Harry is pregnant; I've seen it before, on a couple of the handlers on the reserve...we had to ground them after that. Granted they were all female, but that's what it looks like on a scan."

Charlie and Draco watched as Bill's hand came to rest on Harry's flat belly and Harry's hands came up to cover it. Harry felt a drop on the back of his hand and looked up at Bill; there were tears streaming down his cheeks, even though he was smiling broadly.

"I guess I don't have to ask if you're happy about this..." Harry's words were cut off when Bill's lips covered his in a thorough kiss. Charlie grabbed Draco's free hand and gently ushered him out of the room; they'd talk to Bill and Harry later. He only noticed the parchment in Draco's hand when they reached the study.

"What's going on with that?"

"You didn't look at this, did you?" When Charlie shook his head 'no', Draco continued. "Either you or Bill needs to make sure that Remus sees this; I didn't know that Harry was abused."

Charlie sighed and pulled the blonde over to the sofa and into his lap. "I knew, but I have no idea how bad it was. Bill told me about some of it, so that I wouldn't be surprised if Harry ever decided to confide in me. He never has, but that doesn't mean that he won't; it also doesn't mean that he won't tell you about it either. Let me see the parchment."

Draco handed the list to the red-head and sat back in Charlie's arms, waiting for the explosion that he knew was coming. He could feel the shaking in the larger body behind him and realised that probably no one, not even Bill, knew just how bad Harry's abuse had been.

"Oh my God! How the hell did he live through this?" Draco could hear the tears in Charlie's voice and turned slightly to wrap his arms around the larger man; he hadn't seen many men cry before, but he knew he was about to see something that few, if any, had _**ever**_ seen...Charlie Weasley...dragon handler...crying. 

~OOooOO~

Remus entered the floo at Hogwarts determined that he was never going back; both Severus and Albus had accosted him, demanding to know how Harry's N.E.W.T.s had gone and whether he had passed them or not. Minerva had come to his rescue, requesting that the Headmaster accompany her to break up a fight between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Quidditch teams; Severus had gone with them to make sure that his team wasn't going to get blamed for something that the other team had done. As she turned to leave, Minerva had tossed a wink at Remus and gestured with her head toward the floo. Remus took her advice; he had a feeling that, once they got to where the 'fight' was supposed to have been, there would be no students to be found. He collected Lucius and they made good on their escape. Just to be certain that no one had followed them, they flooed to Malfoy Manor first where they stopped to catch their breath.

"That is it! I've had it with the two of them!" Remus ranted as he paced the area in front of the hearth. Lucius watched him for a moment before speaking.

"What happened? You just grabbed me and told me that we had to leave."

Remus spun to face his partner. "Both Severus and Albus attacked me, trying to find out about Harry's tests...as if I'd tell them anything! I'm giving my notice when I go back on Monday; I can't take this anymore."

Lucius sighed; he had known this was coming. "Are we finishing the term or are we leaving right away? There's only a month left, you know; we might as well finish it out."

Remus' shoulders slumped. "You're right; that month will also give me time to find another job."

Lucius pulled his werewolf down to sit with him on the sofa. "You don't need to do that...I can more than adequately take care of you."

"I'm not mooching off of anyone; I'll get..." Remus was stopped by a single finger pressed against his lips.

"You won't be 'mooching', as you put it. There is more than enough here or at The Lion's Den to keep you occupied; I have too much on my plate as it is."

"Is that why you almost didn't return to teach this year?"

"That is exactly why...not only that, but with Harry's situation, I wanted to be on hand if you couldn't be. Harry could also use a hand in understanding his estates and inheritances, so that he is much more informed than he is now; we could both help him with that."

Remus nodded, thinking hard about that. "You make a good point...but I still don't want to live off of anyone."

"You won't be; you'll be exchanging room and board for your knowledge." Lucius looked at his fingernails, trying to keep from begging as he forged on. "Then, there is also the fact that I am your partner; you could _**let**_ me take care of you." He almost cringed at the silence that greeted that statement.

"You-you'd want to take care of me?" Remus' eyes were wide and over-bright when Lucius risked a glance up.

"Yes."

"You mean that, you really mean that, don't you? Lucius, I'm a werewolf; you taking care of me is proclaiming that I'm your partner. Do you know what the public would do to you if you did that?"

"Would it only be the public's opinion of me being with a werewolf that would keep you from seriously considering it or is there something else?"

"No! I just don't want to drag you down; you know what most of the wizarding world thinks about werewolves."

Lucius leaned in until their noses were touching. "And if I told you that I don't care what the public thinks?"

Remus placed his hands on either side of Lucius' face and kissed him almost desperately; if Lucius truly wanted to be with him, who was Remus to try to convince him otherwise?

They never did make it back to The Lion's Den that night.


	17. Muggles and Fires

There had been a confrontation about his abuse that Harry had tried valiantly to avoid; Draco had given the list of his past injuries to Charlie; Charlie had given the list to Bill; Bill had given the list to Remus, who had passed the list off to Lucius as he broke down in tears for his Pup. Lucius had taken a quick look at the list and had to be restrained by Bill, Charlie _**AND**_ Draco before he could disapparate to kill the muggles; Draco had even confiscated his wand, and it didn't look like he intended to give it back.

Bill put his mouth next to the older man's ear and whispered to him, so that no one else could hear. "Later, Lucius...later you, Remus and I will go take care of the muggles. Right now, your partner needs you and Harry needs me. Draco's brewing a sleeping potion that is safe for a pregnant wizard to take; once Harry's asleep, and Charlie and Draco are watching him, we'll take care of this; but not right now!"

Lucius nodded and moved to wrap his arms around Remus, whispering words into his ear and peppering his neck with small kisses. Remus gradually relaxed into his arms, allowing the comfort to sink in; he was no longer alone, he didn't have to face this alone. Lucius motioned Charlie and Draco out of the room and waved Bill and Harry closer; they all engaged in a group hug with Remus at the centre. After a while, the werewolf's tears slowed and he let out a watery chuckle.

"After all this time, this is the first one of these things I have ever been in."

Harry tilted his head slightly. "You mean a group hug?" At Remus' nod, Harry chuckled, too. "People only do this with those they care about, you know...this means you're never getting rid of us."

A hand reached out to cup Harry's cheek. "I wouldn't want to, Pup. Now, what's this I hear about you making me a grandfather?"

Harry blushed and picked up Bill's hand. "We found out yesterday that Bill and I are going to have a baby...isn't it great!"

Remus pulled Harry into his arms and hugged him tightly. "As much as I would have liked you to wait a bit for this, I'm so happy for you. I think you and Bill will make wonderful parents." Remus pressed a kiss to Harry's forehead and tightened his arms again. "So...when is all this going to happen?"

"Charlie thinks, if you go by a typical 40 week pregnancy, somewhere around the first week in December. We'll need to get Poppy over here to have a look at Harry, to be more precise, but we're figuring around that time." Bill leaned in and kissed the top of Harry's head, his eyes misting over again. He just couldn't believe he was going to be a father! He had thought that, maybe, he would settle down one day, but he hadn't planned on the whirlwind that was Harry Potter to blow into his life and give him everything he had wanted all at once.

Draco popped his head in the door and nodded once at Bill before retreating again; both Lucius and Remus had caught the exchange and looked at Bill curiously. When he mouthed 'later' at them, they nodded and proceeded to fuss over Harry. Both of them were going to make sure that this baby wanted for nothing; they were going to have so much fun spoiling their first grandchild. Since he was Remus' partner and Remus was like Harry's father, Lucius considered himself to be another grandfather to Harry's baby; Malfoy children were always treated with the very best that money could buy...he was going to have the time of his life with this child...just until Draco and Charlie decided to present him with one of their own...and then he'd have even more grandchildren to spoil.

He had fully approved of Charlie's interest in his son; if there was anyone who would be able to keep his son in check, it would be the second oldest Weasley boy. After all, his son was named after the dragon constellation...and what had Charlie done for a living before tutoring Harry? Charlie Weasley had been a dragon handler...he had no worries for their relationship. 

~OOooOO~

Albus Dumbledore opened the thick packet that had been delivered into his eggs this morning; he wasn't happy with the owl, but it had flown off immediately, not waiting for a response. He unfolded a copy of _The Little Whinging Examiner_ , a muggle newspaper. He almost dropped it back in his eggs when he saw the headline.

 

_**PROMINENT FAMILY DISPLACED BY FIRE** _

 

_The Vernon Dursley family of Number 4 Privet Drive was driven out of their home last evening by a fast moving fire. The family lost everything as the fire quickly spread from its start in their kitchen to the rest of the two-floor home. The fire also consumed the family's two vehicles, one of which had been a company car used by Vernon Dursley. It is reported that the Dursleys had no fire insurance on their home or belongings._

_Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were strangely silent as they watched the fire destroy their home. Mrs. Dursley was taken to St. Agnes' Hospital after she lost consciousness; an unidentified firefighter mentioned that it was most likely due to smoke inhalation and stress. The Dursley's sixteen year old son, Dudley, was also taken to St. Agnes' after he was found wandering the neighbourhood park, muttering to himself about freaks and that this was the freaks' fault; the hospital had no comment on either Mrs. Dursley's condition or that of her son._

_Vernon Dursley was speaking with one of the firefighters after the fire had been extinguished and was overheard to say, "This shouldn't have happened...the old coot said that nothing would ever happen to our house! This can't have happened!" The firefighter tried to comfort Mr. Dursley by saying that fires happened constantly, all over the country, Little Whinging would be no different._

_A neighbour, one Mrs. Arabella Figg, stated that she was surprised that the Dursley's son was home from his boarding school, Smeltings, but did say that the family had been on the receiving end of some bad luck recently. Mr. Dursley, it is reported, is on the verge of being dismissed from his position at Grunnings Drill Company, due to misappropriation of funds and other issues pertaining to his methods of handling disciplinary actions._

 

Albus folded the newspaper and stood to walk down the table to where Severus sat, silently eating his breakfast. After handing him the paper, Albus conjured a chair and waited for Severus to finish reading the article.

"Dursley...isn't that...?"

"Yes, Severus, it is. I doubt we'll ever be able to prove what happened, but I can assume that a werewolf and a pure-blood are responsible for this."

"You actually told the muggle that nothing would ever happen to his house? What possessed you to promise something like that? Fires can occur anywhere, even here."

"If your son had gone back there, like he was supposed to have done, this _**wouldn't**_ have happened. One of the protections was on the house itself."

Severus snorted in derision. "You told me yourself that the blood wards probably never worked because they were based on blood that he never shared with that woman. If those wards were useless, why wouldn't the others be? Especially if they were tied in with the non-existent blood wards? What are you going to do for the muggles? You know that Petunia Dursley won't let this rest; they've lost everything."

"They have no way of contacting me."

"Letters arrive at the castle every day from muggles and squibs, why wouldn't she have a way to contact you?" Just as Severus finished speaking a late owl winged its way across the Great Hall, toward where Albus was seated. It dropped a plain white muggle envelope in his lap before flying away again.

Severus smirked slightly as Albus opened the envelope and took out a single sheet of lined muggle paper...the large, heavy writing was easily seen through the paper. Albus read the letter and, folding it back up, placed it in the inner pocket of his robes.

"It seems that you are correct in that she would find a way to contact me, or rather her husband did; most likely she told him what to do to get it here. Please come to my office as soon as you are done with your meal; we need to discuss what to do about this matter."

"Why do you want me there? You're the one who told them that their house wouldn't burn down."

"Yes, but he's _**your**_ son. Fifteen minutes, Severus."

Remus watched the whole exchange while trying to hide his laughter. Nothing that had happened could ever be traced to anyone who had access to The Lion's Den. If Albus tried to get either him or Lucius to admit to doing anything, Harry had already said that he would go to _The Daily Prophet_ with his story...he was fairly certain that the wizarding public would love to know what their self-proclaimed _**'Guardian of the Light'**_ had done to their saviour.


	18. The Daily Prophet Article That Began the End

Severus Snape sat silently in his quarters for quite some time that weekend, just thinking about his life and what had gone wrong. Albus had demanded that Severus cover the monetary damage caused by the fire to the Dursleys' house; of course Severus had refused and had even gone to Gringotts to ensure that the old man couldn't access his vaults to force him to pay. If what Black had said was true, then the Dursleys deserved everything they had gotten; Severus was unlikely to forget the conversation he'd had with the mutt the day after Albus had showed him the muggle newspaper.

 

_ **FLASHBACK:** _

 

_"Snape, please listen to me...before you say anything else, just listen....alright?" At Severus' nod, Black continued. "I've been in contact with Remus; Harry's not ready to speak with me yet, but hopefully he should be soon." He paused for a moment. "Remus said that the muggles abused Harry, both physically and mentally; the emotional damage alone would be enough to get them life terms in Azkaban. If you add the physical damage, you're talking about them getting the Kiss; even the boy wouldn't be exempt from it. This is your **SON** we're talking about here...don't you have even the tiniest amount of feeling for him?"_

_"Of course I do...I just...oh Bloody Hell! I've made a horrific mess of all of this, haven't I?"_

_"Yes, but, like with me, I'm not sure it's irreparable. What Dumbledore has done to him over the years is; but what Harry has always wanted, more than anything else, is a family. You're his father, I know he has some feelings for you, but he's ignoring them right now...just like he is with the feelings he has for me. We've both hurt him badly, but I think we can start to heal the rift."_

_"How? How do we do that?" At this point, Severus had nothing left to lose; he was willing to grovel._

_"We need to come clean, preferably in a very public way."_

_"You mean...?"_

_"Mmhmm...we need to go to The Daily Prophet with what we know."_

 

_ **END FLASHBACK** _

 

Severus had an idea of what he wanted to say, but had no clue if Harry would accept the olive branch when it was offered. 

~OOooOO~

The shattering of Remus' coffee mug coincided with Bill spraying the table and floor with his mouthful of tea; neither one had expected the revelations that appeared in _The Daily Prophet_ that morning. Remus was silently cursing both Severus Snape and Sirius Black quite viciously in his head as he read the article; a little notice would have been nice. Bill finally composed himself enough to read the article without expression; he wanted to read it before Harry got up from his lie-in.

 

_**THE TRUTH ABOUT HOGWARTS** _

_**And Its Headmaster** _

  _Philip Rowling-Skeeter_

 

_This reporter was lucky enough to be selected by Severus Snape and Sirius Black to be on the receiving end of their exposé of what has happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as they know it. I was closeted with them for several hours in an intense interview that left me wondering exactly what kind of man we have holding the highest position in the première magical school in England._

_**Severus Snape:** We asked you here so that we could clear the air on quite a few subjects, not the least of which are my actions over the last six years against one Harry James Potter._

_**Philip Rowling-Skeeter:** First off, are the rumours true? Are you Harry Potter's second father?_

_**SS:** Yes, I am one of his biological fathers; James Charles Potter was the other. I didn't know that I had fathered a child until a History of Magic summer assignment had the students produce a magical family tree. It shows the person making the tree, their children and the other parent, and back three generations on either side. After a year of denying the rumours and making Harry's life miserable, I was made to produce one of these trees myself, showing that the rumours were true and I was, indeed, Harry's second father._

_**PRS:** Who made you produce the tree?_

_**SS:** Albus Dumbledore. He had thought that I'd had relations with Lily Evans Potter, but this was not so; I never came near Mrs. Potter in that way. I had thought that there was no way I could be Harry's father, until it was told to me, by Poppy Pomfrey, the school medi-witch, that male pregnancies can take 11-12 months for full gestation. I knew that James and Lily Potter had married almost exactly nine months before Harry's birth, so I was unaware of my role in his conception; like the rest of the wizarding world, I believed Lily to be his biological mother._

_**PRS:** And you, Mr. Black? What is your role in all of this?_

_**Sirius Black:** I didn't want to believe that Harry's tree was correct. I had been present at his birth, along with Remus Lupin, but we were kept out of the room itself until after Harry had been delivered. When Harry showed me his tree, he was confused; like everyone else, he had believed that Lily was his mother and James was his father. The family tree blew that belief completely apart._

_**PRS:** You are Mr. Potter's godfather, are you not?_

_**SB:** If he still wants me in that role, I am. I can't guarantee it because of how I treated him and things I said to him that I still regret._

_**PRS:** What did you say, if I may ask?_

_**SB:** I said some rather uncomplimentary things about Severus Snape and essentially accused Harry of lying on the family tree...I know it's impossible to do that, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. Severus and I never got along in school, in fact, we were definitely what you would call enemies; I had thought that James felt the same, apparently he didn't._

_**PRS:** I don't understand; why would James Potter's feelings have any impact upon Mr. Potter's birth?_

_**SS:** Allow me to explain, please. Male pregnancies are rare; it takes two magically compatible wizards along with deep feelings, on at least one side of the relationship, before a male pregnancy will occur. I had no idea that James Potter harboured such deep feelings for me, as I did not return them._

_**PRS:** So, what you're saying, Mr. Snape, is that you had no feelings for James Potter?_

_**SS:** Not entirely, but, on my part, those feelings were not strong enough to result in a pregnancy. The emotions involved came solely from James Potter; apparently his emotional tie to me was strong enough to allow the magic to work. _

_**PRS:** Alright then, Mr. Black...you said that you were present for Mr. Potter's birth; how could you not know who was carrying the baby?_

_**SB:** I was kept out of the room during the birth; James had insisted that only he and Poppy Pomfrey be in the room with Lily. I'm going to assume that both he and Lily used advanced glamours to cover up the fact that he was the one carrying Harry, not Lily; she must have used the glamours to make it look like she was the one who was pregnant. I am also going to assume that Poppy knew everything, because she was the one to deliver Harry; she must have been sworn to secrecy about the whole thing._

_**PRS:** Mr. Snape, you mentioned your actions over the last six years, please explain that._

_**SS:** I am highly embarrassed to admit that I allowed myself to be prejudiced against my son from the very first. While I never had a relationship with Lily Evans Potter, other than friendship, I will admit that I wished to have one with her. She was my first friend and I grew to have feelings for her that I have never held for anyone since. I had imagined that James Potter kept me from fulfilling my desire to be with Lily, but this was not true; I had, at that time, been enamoured of the cause of the Dark Lord and extinguished any feelings she might have had for me all on my own. I realised, just before her death, that the cause was wrong and so became a spy for Albus Dumbledore._

_**PRS:** If you would excuse the indelicate question...How did you end up with James Potter instead?_

_**SS:** As most of your readers will know, well over half of our society is either bisexual or gay; I had decided to experiment with the bisexual curiosity that I was experiencing. As Sirius had stated, I was essentially enemies with both him and James Potter during our school years; I had found out that James was gay and, for lack of a better word, blackmailed him with the information. I made it a condition of my silence that he sleep with me._

_**PRS:** You seem embarrassed by this._

_**SS:** I am...I am not proud of the decisions I made back then. When I think about it, all I can think about is that my actions created one of the most precious things in our world...a child. And I treated that child horribly and maliciously._

_**PRS:** We, here at the Prophet, have heard about some of the things that went on at Hogwarts during Mr. Potter's fifth year. Rumour has it that those things caused Mr. Potter to become a runaway and almost killed him. What is the truth in that statement?_

_**SB:** If I may? The rumours are actually the truth. My actions during the summer before Harry's fifth year caused others to treat him just as poorly as I did; in fact, at the end of the term, three of them, Ronald Weasley, Seamus Finnegan and Hermione Granger, bound Harry and beat him very badly. When they were discovered the next day, they were expelled. Harry disappeared into London on that same day; it took about four or five months before he was found._

_**RPS:** How did their actions almost kill him?_

_**SB:** Due to the nature of the beating, Harry couldn't reach all of the wounds on his back and sides, and they became infected, causing blood poisoning. When he was found, a healer was called in and the people who found him were told that, if they hadn't summoned a healer, Harry probably would have died shortly thereafter._

_**(This reporter would like to say that this was something that Severus Snape apparently did not know and he had to be revived after losing consciousness.)** _

_**RPS:** Now that you are with us again, Mr. Snape, please tell us your thoughts on this._

_**SS:** I...I didn't know about that. I was not in contact with my son again until February of this year. No one told me that he had almost died._

_**PRS:** Judging from what you've already said, Mr. Snape, it doesn't sound like you would have cared overly much, at the time, whether Mr. Potter lived or died. With your own words, you have admitted to making your own child miserable and treating him abominably...why would you care now?_

_**SS:** It took me several months, after being presented with the truth, to accept that Harry Potter is my son. At the time, I felt that he was playing an elaborate prank on me; James Potter was very well known for doing things like that._

_**SB:** But Harry **isn't** James...we've been over that._

_**SS:** I know, I know; but at that time, that's all I was seeing. I had conveniently forgotten that I had ever had a relationship with James and thought that Harry was trying to pull one over on his 'greasy git' of a professor. _

_**RPS:** How does Albus Dumbledore fit in with all of this?_

_**SB:** Harry did not have the ideal childhood, as we were led to believe; it's not my right to give out details of that childhood, but let's just say that it was awful. Remus Lupin and myself both believe that Albus Dumbledore knew what was happening to my godson and did absolutely nothing to stop it; he may have even encouraged their actions._

_**RPS:** You mean to tell me that Albus Dumbledore knew of, and encouraged, possible child abuse? I'm sorry gentlemen, but I find that hard to believe._

_**SB:** I know that it's hard to believe, but what was going on during Harry's time at Hogwarts might just change your mind._

_**RPS:** Alright, convince me._  

_**SS:** During Harry's first year, he was led on a merry chase by clues that were let drop within his hearing and given directly to him; just before the end of the term, he met up with the spirit of the Dark Lord, which had taken up residence in the body of the teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Quirinus Quirrell. Harry was allowed to discover that the school was playing host to the only known Philosopher’s Stone in existence. He figured out how to remove the stone from its hiding place and secret it on his person; when the Dark Lord figured that out, Harry almost didn't survive the attempts Quirrell made to retrieve it._

_**SB:** I wasn't here for this, but I heard about it from Ginevra Weasley and Harry himself. During his second year, he was discovered to be a Parselmouth, an ability that was transferred to him by Voldemort during the attempt to kill him when he was a year old. The school turned against him and shunned him for almost the entire term. Towards the end of the term, Harry was, again, confronted by a version of Voldemort; this time it was his sixteen or seventeen year old memory. That memory almost killed Ginevra Weasley and nearly succeeded in killing Harry...with the help of a basilisk. _

_**RPS:** **BASILISK?** There was a **basilisk** at Hogwarts?_

_**SS:** Yes, it was hidden deep in the castle dungeons, for most of the time. It did have free reign of some of the lesser used corridors; that is how it was able to petrify several students, Argus Filch's cat and Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor house ghost. Harry almost lost his life again when, after he managed to kill the basilisk, one of its fangs embedded itself into his arm, spreading poison throughout his body. Fawkes, the Headmaster's phoenix, was with Harry in Salazar Slytherin's chamber and came to his rescue by crying into the wound; apparently phoenix tears will neutralise basilisk poison._

_**RPS:** Dear, Sweet Merlin! How did he survive all of this?_

_**SB:** We're not quite done yet...there's more._

_**RPS:** **More?**_

_**SS:** Yes, in his third year, he faced Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and a changed Remus Lupin._

_**RPS:** Yes, it was told that Remus Lupin is a werewolf. How is it that he is considered safe?_

_**SS:** He takes the Wolfsbane Potion, created in the late 1970s by Damocles; I brewed it for him while he was a teacher at Hogwarts. Since he has given notice and will not be returning to teaching, I will assume he has a private brewer making it for him. The potion, while it does not cure Lycanthropy, will relieve it's worst effect...the losing of one's mind to the inner wolf. The potion allows Remus Lupin to retain his humanity during his change; essentially it allows him to take the form of the werewolf, but keeps his mind in its human form. _

_**SB:** Basically, he just locks himself into a safe room and curls up to sleep off the change; the Ministry of Magic has deemed any werewolf who takes the potion to **not** be a harm to others during the change. Remus is very religious about taking the potion; to my knowledge, the only time he missed a dose was during Harry's third year...and that was due to finding out that Peter Pettigrew was still alive and that I was innocent of the crimes I went to Azkaban for._

_**RPS:** Is there anything else that Albus Dumbledore has allowed to happen to the poor boy while on school grounds? Please tell me there's not!_

_**SS:** I hate to tell you this, Mr. Rowling-Skeeter, but there **is** more...two more years worth._

_**RPS:** I...how did all of this escape the notice of the Board of Governors? I can't believe that one child could attract this much danger!_

_**SS:** Oh, he didn't do it on his own; Albus Dumbledore helped him attract it. Albus made sure that Harry had a basic working knowledge of everything that was happening and then left it up to him to do whatever he wanted. I had originally thought that it was a case of a spoiled brat being allowed free reign over the school, but, as it turns out, Harry was pushed in certain directions and then let go. Albus trusted in Harry's sense of self-preservation to keep him from dying; unfortunately, it came very close several times._

_**RPS:** What happened next?_

_**SB:** Well, in Harry's fourth year it was the Tri-Wizard Tournament._

_**RPS:** How could I forget about that?_

_**SB:** I don't know, I'm sure I'll never be able to forget it. Harry kept sending me owls throughout the entire tournament, telling me that he was fairly sure that Dumbledore could have gotten him out of the magical contract; Dumbledore refused to listen to him when Harry begged to be released from the contract. We found out, after the tournament was over, and a student had died... **AND** Harry had defeated Voldemort... **AGAIN**...that, since Dumbledore was Harry's magical guardian, he could have pulled him from the tournament with no problem. Ludo Bagman's memories, along with those of the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, proved that Harry had asked Dumbledore repeatedly, but had been turned down each time._

_**RPS:** Why wasn't a Board of Inquiry convened to have the matter looked in to?_

_**SS:** I asked Albus the same thing, but was told that there was nothing he could do, as he was not Harry's magical guardian._

_**RPS:** **Wait!** Didn't you just say that Headmaster Dumbledore **was** Mr. Potter's magical guardian?_

_**SB:** Yes, I did...and he was...at that time; Harry has since been emancipated. Dumbledore would alternately say he was or was not Harry's magical guardian, depending on the situation. If it benefited him, he was...if it didn't benefit him, he wasn't._

_**SS:** And, after Harry had defeated the Dark Lord, Albus tried to claim that he had been there with Harry, and had destroyed the madman himself, even though there was a stadium full of people that saw him there the entire time that Harry and Cedric Diggory were gone; he claimed that, through the judicious use of a Time-Turner, he was able to assist Harry. Harry denied that ever happened and no Time-Turner was ever found in Albus' possession._

_**RPS:** My cousin, Rita was there covering the tournament and I remember her saying something about that; she was quite upset that Dumbledore tried to steal the thunder from The Boy Who Lived._

_**SB:** About that name...Harry hates it; please try not to use it, alright?_

_**RPS:** Why would he hate the name 'The Boy Who Lived'?_

_**SB:** Because he hates being known for something that took his parents away from him. He told me once that all he's ever wanted was to be 'just Harry'. With everything that's happened and all of the names the press and public have given him, there's no chance of that happening._

_**RPS:** So, what about Mr. Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts?_

_**SS:** That's when I made his life absolutely miserable._

_**SB:** You weren't the only one, though. I did, too; as well as just about everyone in the school. I think the only friends that Harry had during that time were Draco and Lucius Malfoy and Remus. Everyone else treated him like rubbish because of the rumours about you and James._

_**RPS:** Didn't Headmaster Dumbledore try to stop it? Didn't he do anything to put an end to the rumours?_

_**SS:** No, he didn't. I began to give Harry detentions because, like I said before, I thought he was trying to pull a prank on me. Most of the detentions were because of things that Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had done; as for the others...other things I just made up. I wasn't about to let a fifteen year old boy get the better of me; so I made him pay for the imagined slight against me, even though he had done nothing wrong. Albus backed me when Harry went to him to complain about the detentions. I was told, by Minerva McGonagall, after Harry had left the Headmaster's office, that she and Remus Lupin separately pleaded with Albus to look into it, but he refused; they were told to let it go because he trusted my judgement...he shouldn't have._

_**RPS:** That's when the beating happened?_

_**SB:** No, that happened the very last night there, right after the Leaving Feast. Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan admitted, in front of the entire school the next morning, that they had beaten him. I was told about it later, when I spoke with Remus while they were still searching for Harry. He said that the Finnegan boy was remorseful, but the other two weren't. All three were expelled and their wands snapped. I think the only reason that Albus did anything to them was because Lucius Malfoy was there; he was a sitting member of the Board of Governors._

_**RPS:** So Mr. Potter never returned to Hogwarts after that?_

_**SB:** No, he disappeared into London for a little over four months; he was found by a friend who convinced the goblins to place a tracer on his Gringotts card._

_**RPS:** Where is Mr. Potter now?_

_**SB:** Only a few people know...and we're not amongst them._

_**RPS:** But you two are his father and his godfather...why wouldn't he tell you where he is?_

_**SS:** Haven't you been listening to a word we've said, Sir? We both treated him horribly; we'll both be lucky if he **ever** decides to speak to us again. Black is more likely to speak with him than I will be; I treated Harry far worse than Sirius did...and I'm his father. I'm not holding out much hope that he'll consider seeing me again; what I've done is irreparable._

_**The interview ended with those words as Severus Snape got out of his seat to leave the room and Sirius Black followed him; it might be of interest to those reading this article to know that Mr. Snape was very affected by his final words and looked as if he might have been crying as he left the room. I realise that anyone who was in this man's Potions class might disagree, however, I stand by my word on this...Severus Snape was crying as he left my presence.** _

_**Now...what needs to happen? I say that the Board of Governors should convene the Board of Inquiry that I mentioned in the interview, so that the actions of Albus Dumbledore can be looked at carefully. If our 'Guardian of the Light' can treat Harry Potter like this, what is keeping him from condoning further abuse of our magical children...or worse?** _

 

Bill heard a slight gasp from behind him and turned slightly to see Harry standing there, eyes locked on the newspaper. Remus had Charlie and Draco behind him, reading over his shoulder. Remus looked up and met his eyes; both nodded slightly and rose from their seats. Bill kept his newspaper, but Remus handed his off to Charlie; Remus pulled Harry into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Let's go into the library, Pup. We can talk about this there." The three of them made their way into the library and sat on the sofa, with Harry situated between Remus and Bill.

"How much did you read, Harry?" Bill wanted to know how much damage he was going to have to deal with.

"D-do you think he was really crying when he left? Why would he be crying?" That told Bill that Harry had read the entire article.

"Pup, please listen before you say anything, alright?" Harry nodded silently. "Severus had started to cave slightly at the meeting we had back in February. I don't know if you saw it, but he looked like he wanted to cry when you told him how what he did affected you; I know you saw it, Bill."

"Yes, I did. Harry, I think that both Severus and Sirius have really been thinking about their actions towards you; I don't think Sirius would have agreed to speak with a reporter unless he had. Severus has probably been thinking about what he's done to you, what with you being his biological son; he's not a really bad man, but his past and his experiences with people make him distrust almost everyone."

"What should I do? I don't know what I should do!"

Remus sighed and pulled both men into his arms. "Why don't you think about it for a little while, Pup? It never does any good to rush into things without thinking about them first. Remember, too, that it's not only you that you have to think about; there's also Bill and the baby. Whatever you choose will affect them as well."

Harry nodded and buried his face in Bill's neck; Bill tightened his arms around Harry and dropped a soft kiss on the top of his hair. Whatever Harry decided, he'd live with; he was kind of hoping that Harry decided to forgive both men...they were his father and godfather, after all.


	19. The Board of Governors

Against all of Albus Dumbledore's wishes, Lucius Malfoy had remained a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors; Albus personally thought that he did it just to annoy the older wizard...and he would be right. Lucius had absolutely no intention of giving up his place on the Board while Dumbledore was still Headmaster of the school his son was attending; he could wreak so much more havoc on the old goat if he stayed a member, rather than just a concerned parent. Draco had one more year to complete and Lucius was going to see Dumbledore ousted as Headmaster during that year, if it was the last thing he did...little did he know he wasn't going to have to try very hard.

Lucius walked into the next meeting of the Board with Bill Weasley at his side; Bill was there to claim Harry's seat on the Board and had written permission from Harry to do so. Everyone, including Draco and Minerva, had sat down the day after the article had been published, to discuss what should be done about Dumbledore. They had all thought, when Harry had first been found, that Albus hadn't really done anything to harm Harry, but the article had ended that line of thinking. So, after much discussion, it had been decided that Harry, Remus and Bill would accept nothing less than Albus' forced retirement as an answer to the accusations made in Rowling-Skeeter's article.

The conference room that the two men walked into was in utter chaos; Dumbledore's supporters were very few and were cowering in their seats from the onslaught of questions from the rest of the Board. Bill and Lucius slipped in and took the two remaining seats silently and completely unnoticed; they sat for a few minutes, just listening to the inquisition going on around them.

Lucius stood and cleared his throat, instantly claiming the attention of everyone in the room. "Gentlemen, I see we have a clear divide as to where we all stand on the matter of Albus Dumbledore and his machinations against a defenceless child. William Weasley has come to claim the seat reserved for the Head of the Potter family; he has written permission from that Head, Harry James Potter." Bill handed the letter to the head of the Board of Governors as the room erupted once more in yelling and accusations, mostly from the few Dumbledore supporters in the room.

Bill stood and looked at the wizard in charge; Roderick Parkinson nodded in acceptance of the proxy and brought his rather large fist down on the table, gaining everyone's attention. Parkinson nodded at Bill again and gave over the floor to him.

"I assume that everyone has read the article printed two days ago in _The Daily Prophet_ ; that article is why I am here. Although it mentions no names, I was the friend who found Harry Potter and, essentially, saved his life. If I hadn't found him when I did, he would have died shortly thereafter; Albus Dumbledore is entirely to blame for that happening." He paused as the four members sided with Dumbledore began to speak all at once. " _ **LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!**_ It is not up for negotiation as to who is responsible for Mr. Potter's injuries; if Albus Dumbledore had behaved like a true Headmaster, this would never have happened. A true Headmaster would have stopped the persecutions and the rumours; he should never have allowed things to escalate to the point where three students thought that they were entitled to beat, curse and hex another student so badly that he almost died from blood poisoning. A true Headmaster would have stopped the obvious bullying by his Potions Master and stopped the string of detentions that Mr. Potter was forced to serve for things he didn't do. A true Headmaster would never have allowed things to go so far that a fifteen year old student thought his only option for survival was to disappear into Wizarding London. Yes, I am biased against Albus Dumbledore, but it doesn't take an overly intelligent person to see that the current Headmaster has let his position go to his head; he is under the impression that no one will ever do anything against him, that no one will ever remove him from power. I am here to do just that." Bill sat down again and listened to the ringing silence his words had caused. Lucius smirked at the rest of the Board for a moment before he stood.

"I was under the impression that, as the Board of Governors, we are the ones who make the rules governing the school...and we are the ones who should be enforcing the rules we have created and those created by the Governors before us. Yes, some of those rules are outdated and, for the most part, we ignore them; it has, however, come to my attention that Albus Dumbledore has been using some of those outdated rules to his own advantage. As proof, I list the following:

" _Ruling 126, dated 3 March, 1819: The Headmaster/Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shall, in effect, become the parent of all students under his care for the length of the school term. He/She shall make all decisions regarding the well-being of said students and shall determine all punishments to be meted out upon them._

_"Ruling 142, dated 16 September, 1828: The Headmaster/Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shall not be undermined by any student determined to be a detriment to the safety of the school environment. Should a student be determined thus, the Headmaster/Headmistress has the right and responsibility to ensure that said student is punished in an appropriate manner, to be determined by the Headmaster/Headmistress._

_"Ruling 46, dated 4 February, 1621: Any and all students enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shall be under the supervision of the Headmaster/Headmistress of the School and shall be considered under-aged and shall remain thus until such time as they have completed their education at the School. This ruling does not take into consideration the age of the student or whether the student has been emancipated under Ministry law. A student shall be considered enrolled if they attend the first day of schooling for any particular term. (Ruling translated into modern English by Arvide Dawlish, 13 June, 1895)_

"Gentlemen, I am sure that you can see how these older rules have been twisted by Albus Dumbledore, giving him an autonomous rule over the school and, indeed, over us. As Governors, we should not be allowing the Headmaster, who is under our jurisdiction, to become our overseer...we should be his." Lucius sat in his chair again and waited for the questions he knew were coming.

"How is Dumbledore using that last one?" Roderick Parkinson's mouth was a thin, tight line; he didn't like being made a fool of by someone he couldn't stand...and he couldn't stand Dumbledore.

"If you think about it, we are considered adults at the age of seventeen, emancipated or not. This ruling gives Dumbledore the right to curtail any and all activities off of the school grounds, even for those already of age. Our last year at Hogwarts begins after we turn seventeen; some of the students, depending upon their birth date, turn eighteen very shortly after their last year has begun. Normally, once we are seventeen, we are no longer under the supervision of our parents, but this ruling allows the Headmaster, in this case, Dumbledore, to essentially declare us still children in the eyes of the law and he can still act as a parent, giving punishments and accolades as he sees fit. I turned eighteen six weeks after beginning my seventh term at Hogwarts and found his constraints for the Slytherins to be almost as confining as those for a first year."

"What do you mean?" Parkinson wanted to make sure he knew exactly what he was hearing; he had graduated from Hogwarts the year before Dumbledore became Headmaster.

"The seventh year Slytherins were not allowed off of school grounds at any time, other than the proscribed Hogsmeade weekends; other houses, especially Gryffindor, were allowed to leave, as long as they informed their Head of House that they were doing so. My father took this matter up with Dumbledore more than once during my final year and this ruling was given as his reason for not allowing us the privileges other houses were given. I was not even allowed to leave the school to attend my mother's funeral, held just after Yule of my seventh year." A low rumble of outrage spread through the members of the Board not aligned with Dumbledore.

"What does that have to do with that damned article?" Georgina Doge, daughter of Elphias Doge, was one of the few staunch Dumbledore supporters in the room.

"It has nothing at all to do with the article; what it does is support my supposition that Albus Dumbledore is using outdated rules and regulations to keep certain Hogwarts' Houses under his thumb. I only used it as an example of what the current Headmaster has been doing to subjugate the students after they are already of age in our world...some of the students affected by this rule are even of age in the muggle world."

Roderick Parkinson got a cunning look on his face. "Gentlemen and Ladies, Mr Malfoy has brought up an extremely pertinent point...if Albus Dumbledore is using these three rules, what other outdated rules is he twisting to his benefit? Judging from Rowling-Skeeter's article, Dumbledore isn't merely acting like the world's worst dressed grandfather, he's trying to make himself seem much more important than he actually is. I move that we form a Board of Inquiry to look into the allegations set forth in the article."

"I second the motion." Bill wasn't going to waste time by waiting to see who sided with Parkinson.

"I third the motion." Lucius only waited for Bill to speak up before adding his voice.

"I fourth the motion." The new voice that spoke up surprised Bill greatly; he hadn't known that his father had taken up his seat on the Board of Governors. "That takes us to a vote...all in favour?" Roderick Parkinson quickly counted hands, coming up with a vast majority. "All against?" Only four hands were raised; Georgina Doge, Cornelius Fudge, Andrew Macmillan and Molly Weasley being the four against.

Bill had known that his mother had taken up the Prewett seat on the Board, but hadn't thought that she would actively side against her own husband. Bill raised an eyebrow at Arthur and was met with a mouthed 'Later'; Bill nodded his head and looked at Parkinson.

"Twenty-six in favour, four against...the motion passes; I will set up a Board of Inquiry in conjunction with the DMLE and Amelia Bones." Parkinson's dictaquill was furiously scribbling across the parchment, recording everything...from who had voted to how they had voted. "Are there any new orders of business?" At the complete silence at the table, Parkinson nodded. "This emergency meeting of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Board of Governors is declared over." A loud knock sounded and the doors to the room opened; the dissenting members of the Board tried to quickly leave the room, but Arthur spoke up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I do remind you of the binding oath you gave when you voluntarily entered this room...none of what was spoken about in this room is to be repeated to anyone. If you attempt to do so, you will be immediately stripped of your magic and bound until another member of the Board of Governors arrives to escort you to Azkaban...please keep that in mind."

Molly Weasley's face turned a horrid shade of bright red in her anger but she said nothing to her husband and swept out of the room. Bill watched her leave and heaved a sigh filled with sadness; it hurt to have his mother ignore him as if he didn't exist. His thoughts were interrupted by an arm placing itself around his waist and pulling him into a half-hug.

Arthur had seen the expression on his eldest son's face and wanted to remove it by any means possible. "Son, she made her choice; hopefully, soon, she'll begin to see how truly horrible a choice it was."

"I know, but I honestly hadn't thought that she would just ignore me."

"If it helps you any, I have filed for a dissolution of our bond; I can't live with her constant carping about how horrible Harry has been and how she always knew that he would end up becoming a Dark Lord." Arthur lowered his voice with the last words he said; he didn't want anyone else to overhear them and switch sides based on the words of an angry, biased woman.

"You know, as well as I do, that that situation will never happen, Arthur." Lucius, having been standing next to them, had indeed overheard them; he wanted to reassure them that they had no need to worry about Harry's sanity.

Bill nodded and watched as Roderick Parkinson made his way to their sides. "Mr. Weasley, it is a great pleasure to welcome you as Mr. Potter's proxy. I don't know if Lucius has told you, but the Board meets once a month...unless something like the article in _The Prophet_ comes up. I'm glad that Lucius brought you with him for this meeting...otherwise you'd have had to wait another two weeks for the next Board meeting." He held out his hand for Bill to shake; you could tell quite a bit about a person from their handshake...Roderick was pleased to find that this Weasley's hand was as firm as his father's and just as fuelled by determination. "Now that you've submitted the proxy note, both you and Mr. Potter will be notified of upcoming meetings and the subjects on the agenda." Roderick paused for a moment, assessing the man in front of him. "I know you noticed the manner in which your mother treated your father when he reminded them of their oaths; I can almost guarantee that, if not Molly, then Georgina Doge would have gone straight to Dumbledore to tell him about the Board of Inquiry."

"How did she get the Prewett seat? I knew she had claimed it, but I didn't think she would have been able to, since she is a Weasley now."

"Molly claimed the seat as the last living person born with the Prewett name. Most of the Board fought against it, but the by-laws for the Board state that, as long as the person was born to the name, they can claim the seat." Arthur shook his head sadly; Molly had only claimed that seat after he had claimed the Weasley seat, intending to cancel out his vote.

"Bill, I will be able to fill you in on more of the processes and by-laws of the Board later this evening...we need to be getting back now." Lucius gestured to the door and waited as Bill said his goodbye to his father and Roderick Parkinson; he normally wouldn't have rushed anything, but Poppy was coming by directly after lunch to examine Harry and see if she could determine when the baby was due. 

~OOooOO~

"Well, Mr. Potter...I can see that you're doing quite well with your pregnancy. Now, let's get a look at that baby." Poppy muttered a phrase in Latin and a three-dimensional projection of the baby hovered above Harry's mid-section. Everyone in the room was stunned into silence by the proof of Harry's love for Bill and his own magical strength.

Bill was holding Harry's hand tightly, returning the grip that Harry had on his hand; tears were once again streaming down Bill's cheeks as he finally got to see his baby. The projection moved when the baby did, so they all got to see a moving show of what was going on under Harry's skin.

"Everything seems to be going quite well, Harry. The baby is about twelve weeks along, meaning that you became pregnant on, or around, 23rd February. By my calculations, you should give birth somewhere around the middle of January to the middle of February."

"But...I thought that pregnancies lasted for 40 weeks...how can he carry a baby for that long?" Bill shared a confused look with Harry and then looked up at the medi-witch.

"In a female pregnancy, the baby gestates for 40 weeks; in a male pregnancy, the baby gestates for anywhere from 48 to 52 weeks. You need to remember that a male pregnancy is vastly different from a female pregnancy; the male body has to...basically...grow a uterus for the foetus to grow in...and then there's all the other changes that happen."

"I'm not going to grow...breasts...am I?" Both Harry and Bill looked horrified at the thought, causing everyone else to laugh.

"No, Mr. Potter, you will not grow breasts; you will be able to breast feed, but you won't have the 'lumps of flesh', as I heard them called once, that women have. Your nipples should have already become sensitive to touch; have they?" At Harry's embarrassed nod, Poppy chuckled slightly. "Harry, your body is going to become much more different than you are used to, very quickly. I'm going to suggest that you are not to try to get out of your bed or a chair on your own after another four to six weeks; your sense of balance is going to be thrown completely off by your centre of gravity shifting on you. I don't want you to feel that shift and try to compensate too much, possibly causing you to fall." As Poppy reeled off more instructions and precautionary measures he should take, Harry was immensely happy that Remus had set up a dictaquill to take notes.

His eyes met Bill's again and he smiled brightly; Bill leaned in and gently pressed a kiss to his lips, smiling as he drew back. They were both glad that Bill had invited Arthur to come to The Lion's Den to share this moment with them; Lucius and Remus were there for Harry and Charlie and Arthur were there for Bill. Bill had explained what had happened at the Board meeting and Harry was also saddened by Molly's determination that he was, somehow, evil; Arthur had given them more information about what had been going on with Ron and Hermione since they had been expelled. Ron had found a job in Diagon Alley, working as a stock boy and cashier at Flourish and Blotts; he probably wouldn't advance much more than that, having been expelled. Hermione had decided, with her parents' urging, to go back to school, in a muggle setting, to get her GCE A-Levels; she would be at it for several more years...to Arthur's knowledge, they were not together as a couple anymore. No one had heard much about Seamus Finnegan, but Draco had spoken to Dean Thomas and had been told that Seamus had decided to do self-study at home and take his N.E.W.T. tests after the requisite two years had passed after the expulsion.

Although Harry was ecstatic to get to see his baby finally, he was still vacillating about what to do about Sirius and Snape. He wasn't sure that he could ever completely forgive either one for what they'd done to him; the only problem with that was that, no matter what they'd done...they were still a part of Harry's family.


	20. The Board Arrives

With Lucius' help, Harry and Bill sat down with a copy of the Educational Decrees and Rulings set forth by the Hogwarts Board of Governors; their aim was to eradicate all of the old, outdated decrees. If Dumbledore had been twisting them to serve his purposes against Harry and the Slytherins, who was to say that he hadn't been doing that for years...ever since he had taken the position of Headmaster. They worked with two copies, one to read from and another to make changes or deletions on; they immediately crossed off the first three dozen decrees as they were so outdated, the circumstances didn't exist any longer.

"What about number 38? _The students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shall defer to the Headmaster/Headmistress in all decisions that may have an impact on any other student._ The way I'm reading this is that, if I wanted to study Potions one night and you wanted to study Transfiguration, I would have to run that past Dumbledore to get his approval." Harry had the feather-end of his quill stuck between his teeth as he thought about the ruling.

Lucius and Remus, who had joined them to add their input, both nodded. "Yes, that's exactly how it reads; because of your decision to study what your friend does not, you should have to get the permission of the Headmaster to do so."

"Well, that one's gone. I think it should read _'decisions that may have an impact on the student body, as a whole.'_ How does that sound?"

The general consensus was one of approval; the Board of Inquiry was meeting at the Ministry building the following Wednesday and Bill wanted to be able to hand Roderick Parkinson a listing of outdated and changed decrees, even if the listing wasn't complete. They were going to try to cut off Albus' main form of support...the outdated Educational Decrees. 

~OOooOO~

Albus Dumbledore was extremely upset; what had started out as, to his mind, a minor thing was turning into a witch-hunt for his position as Headmaster of Hogwarts. If only the little brat had stayed where he was supposed to, none of this would ever have happened; Albus had even lost the somewhat tenuous support of Severus Snape. Severus had, apparently, rethought his stance on Harry Potter's parentage and was now trying to atone for what he had done.

The Board of Inquiry was set to arrive that afternoon; as Headmaster, he was required to put them up for the duration of their investigation. He was planning on making their stay as uncomfortable as possible. A knock on the door disturbed his thoughts.

"Enter."

"Albus, I've arranged rooms for the members of the Board of Inquiry; most of them have requested rooms close to the classrooms that have been set aside for their use, so they are all being housed on the fourth floor, in the unused staff rooms there." Minerva entered Albus' office, not even looking at him; she was concentrating on the list she held tightly.

"No, that won't do...I have already arranged perfectly suitable rooms in the dungeons, near Severus' quarters."

" _ **Albus!**_ What do you think you're trying to do...alienate the Board before they've even started their investigation? I refuse to allow that! Tippy!" The head of the Hogwarts house elves popped into the room and stood in front of Minerva.

"You is wanting Tippy, Missus?" Minerva had told the elves to call her that, rather than hear them destroy her name while trying to pronounce it.

"Yes...what rooms have been readied for the members of the Board of Inquiry?"

"Missus, we has been preparing two sets...one in dungeons and one on fourth floor. Rooms down below is hard to heat and keep dry...Tippy suggests rooms on fourth floor."

"Minerva..."

"Thank you, Tippy, the rooms on the fourth floor will be perfect. Concentrate the elves there and make sure that those rooms will be ready when the Board of Inquiry arrives this afternoon."

"Tippy thought so, Missus, fourth floor rooms has already been done since you told Tippy to do them." Minerva smiled tightly at the elf, dismissing him; she turned to Albus and had to keep a firm grip on her temper.

"Albus, why would you give the very people who have the ability to fire you on the spot a reason to do so? Have you taken complete leave of your senses?"

"Minerva, I am not going to pander to the wishes of Lucius Malfoy or Harry Potter; neither one is deserving of that regard. No, I refuse to do that."

Minerva swirled around to leave, but turned back just as she reached the door. "Fine, get yourself sacked, I don't care. I don't know you anymore...you're not the same man you were when I first came to teach here. I, personally, think that the position has gone to your head!" Minerva swept out of the office, almost slamming the door shut behind her in her haste to be away from Albus' disturbing presence. 

~OOooOO~

Albus cringed when he saw who some of the members of the Board of Inquiry were...Arthur Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Remus Lupin, Lucius Malfoy and Roderick Parkinson, just to name a few. There were fifteen Board members and they all had, at one time or another, had at least one run-in with him about the way he ran the school. Lucius and Roderick were the worst; they had been trying to get him sacked for years. An indistinct murmur rose from the Board members and they all seemed to take a step away from the centre of the group, creating a passage for the Head of the Board; Albus wanted to hide back in his office...this was far worse than he had imagined it could be.

The Head of the Board of Inquiry was Amelia Bones; she was flanked on one side by Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and on the other by retired Auror Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody...just when Albus had thought that his day couldn't get any worse!


	21. Welcome To the Board of Inquiry

Minerva stepped forward to welcome the Head of the Board of Inquiry, as Albus didn't seem capable of intelligent thought at that moment. Inwardly, Minerva smirked; she understood exactly what Parkinson and Amelia Bones had up their sleeves.

"Madam Bones...Welcome to Hogwarts." Minerva shook the younger woman's hand and raised one eyebrow in question; a small smirk that would have done a Slytherin proud was her answer, never mind that the woman had been in Hufflepuff...oh yes, they had definitely planned this.

"Thank you for your welcome, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. Although I had thought it was the responsibility of the Headmaster to greet us, I am not against you acting in his stead." Amelia made a small gesture and the remaining members of the Board fanned out to stand behind her and her two companions. "Headmaster Dumbledore and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, I am here to inform you that the Board of Inquiry has arrived and is ready to begin its task. I am the Head of the Board and Head Auror Shacklebolt is here only in an official capacity as an Auror; he is not part of the Board, but we will be reporting all of our findings directly to him. The other Board members are as follows:" Amelia flicked her wrist and a piece of parchment appeared in her hand.

 

Roderick Parkinson - Head of the Hogwarts Board of Governors

Lucius Malfoy - Member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and former Hogwarts Professor

Arthur Weasley - Member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and Ministry Employee

Magdalena Anderson - Retired Auror and Advisor to the Minister for Magic

Alastor Moody - Retired Auror

Sirius Black - Former Auror and Concerned Citizen

Josiah Dearborne - Advisor to the DMLE

Maximilian Bulstrode - Advisor to the DMLE and Director of Bulstrode Industries

Trevor Haverforth - Solicitor and Concerned Citizen

Almira Wandsworth - Wand Maker and Concerned Citizen

Xenophilius Lovegood - Owner of The Quibbler Newspaper and Concerned Citizen

Remus Lupin - Former Hogwarts Professor and Concerned Citizen

Oliver Wood - Professional Quidditch Player and Concerned Citizen

Charles Weasley - Former Dragon Handler and Concerned Citizen

 

"These were the names drawn by an impartial person in the form of Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic; there will be no alterations or substitutions to this list...if one of the members becomes ill or has to leave for some reason, we will carry on without them. Such are the rules set forth by the by-laws of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, amended on 16th September, 1952. Are there any questions Headmaster...Headmistress?" When neither one spoke up, Amelia nodded shortly; she hadn't expected either of them to complain, especially not Minerva. "Excellent...if we could be shown to our rooms, we will join you for the evening meal; I am assuming that it is still held at 6:00, correct?"

Minerva nodded. "That is correct, Madam Bones; we will expect you then. If you will all follow me, I will show you to the rooms allotted to you for your stay." Minerva led the group off, ascending up to the fourth floor where their rooms were located.

Albus stomped off, much like a petulant child, to his office where he could fume in privacy. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody were the only witnesses to Albus' childish behaviour; both smiled evilly and shook their heads.

~OOooOO~

Once all of the students had filed into the Great Hall and had taken their seats, Albus stood to speak. It was his unfortunate responsibility to inform all of the students exactly what was going on and what they could expect until the Board of Inquiry finished its duties.

"May I have your attention...Students of Hogwarts, the school is playing host to a Board of Inquiry; there are fifteen members, all of whom you see before me." He gestured to the front of the head table and to the sixteen people standing there. "Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt is here to make certain that none of the members of the Board is harassed or tampered with in any way; please do nothing to instigate any difficulties with them. During their investigation, certain students will be withdrawn from their classes to be interviewed by the Board members; please cooperate with them to the best of your abilities. Due to the nature of the Board of Inquiry's investigation, the use of Veritaserum is supported by the by-laws of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and enforced by the Ministry of Magic; each of your parents received a permission slip regarding its use, if deemed necessary, and all of them were sent back to Deputy Headmistress McGonagall last week. If your parents declined to allow Veritaserum to be used on you, it will be noted next to your name on their list and the Board members will abide by your parents' wishes." The quiet buzz of conversation rose for a moment; the students were all shocked by the news that Veritaserum might actually be used on them.

"The purpose of this Board of Inquiry is to judge whether or not I am adequately performing my duties as Headmaster; I ask that you keep your personal views to yourself and answer the questions as honestly as you can. I am certain that, if we all participate fully and with complete cooperation, justice will be served by the Board. If you have any questions regarding their mission, feel free to ask myself, Professor McGonagall or Madam Bones for clarification. Dinner is served."

Albus sat heavily behind the head table and rubbed his fingers over his temples; he was afraid that he was going to be nursing a migraine for the duration of the investigation. 

~OOooOO~

Minerva knocked on the door to the room housing her former student; as Head of the Board of Inquiry, Amelia Bones had been given her own room...the same concession had been made for Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. While she waited for Amelia to answer, Minerva considered the other members of the Board. All of them were firmly of the belief that Albus Dumbledore could easily be replaced, and by someone infinitely better; most of them, minus Sirius Black and Charlie Weasley, had locked horns with the ageing codger at least once...some of them more than once, in the cases of Lucius Malfoy and Roderick Parkinson. The moment she had seen the members of the board, she knew that the selection had been rigged; there was no way that that many former Slytherins would have made it on the Board of Inquiry otherwise. Minerva knew that she would be interviewed for the investigation and hoped that Amelia would be doing her interviewing; there were things she knew about Albus that, while she was not supportive of him, would do more harm than good to the school if they got out to the general public. She genuinely smiled when Amelia finally opened the door.

"I'm sorry, Minerva; I just got out of the bath and didn't want to greet you in my towel. What can I do for you?" All of this was said as Amelia ushered the older witch into her rooms and to a seat.

"I just wanted to see my former student before all of this mess gets under way. How the bloody hell did Sirius Black get on the Board?" Forgetting that she was supposed to be there just to see Amelia, Minerva couldn't control the question that had been lurking on the tip of her tongue since she had seen him in the crowd of Board members.

Amelia chuckled and smirked slightly before answering. "I wanted him there...as to my reasoning, well...let's just say that he apparently knows a thing or two about Albus that would be horrifying to the old goat if they got out. You do realise that we have to be interviewed after the whole thing is over and before we make our decision, don't you?"

Minerva straightened in her chair and stared hard at the Head of the DMLE. "What does he know?"

"Ah, ah, ah...I can't tell you that, but, with proper questioning, under Veritaserum, the answers will come out. I notice that Albus didn't mention that we will be interviewing the teachers as well...do they know that?"

"Yes, I got the joyful task of informing them of that this morning. You should have seen the reactions of some of the more faithful of Albus' supporters; I'm supposing that they're not going to be happy when you demand to give them Veritaserum."

Amelia chuckled again. "No, I can also assume that they won't be happy; especially Flitwick and Hagrid. Those two will be rabid once they find out."

The two women continued to talk for a while before Minerva left to complete her rounds for the night. She was looking forward to this investigation...immensely!


	22. Why Am I Here?

Sirius looked around the room he had been given; he knew he would be sharing with someone else on the board and wondered who it was. He got his answer very shortly thereafter when Alastor Moody clomped his way into the living area.

"Well, Black...wondering how you got on the Board when you didn't put your name in for it?"

"I...Yes."

Alastor's smile was quite frightening; he had a tendency to resemble a goblin on the best of days...when he smiled, it just made the mental image worse. "Just so you know...Amelia wanted you on the Board. When you came to her about some of the things you had been told, she knew that you would be on any eventual Board of Inquiry; not to mention the information that you knew about the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Your presence here, like mine, Lucius Malfoy's and Remus Lupin's, is invaluable...we need you for this investigation."

"So, this isn't about seeing justice done...it's a witch-hunt for Dumbledore's job."

"Oh no, Laddie, this is no witch-hunt. Yes, Albus Dumbledore's position is on the line, but it's more about what he's done to the school and the students. We have had information given to us over the years about some of the things that Dumbledore has done and we need to make certain that it doesn't continue; if we can do that, and allow Dumbledore to keep his position, then...so be it. I don't think that's going to happen, but there is always that possibility. Were you told the main mission of this Board?"

"Not exactly...I know we are going to be looking into some of the things that were stated in the interview that Severus Snape and I gave; but, other than that, I have no idea."

Moody lowered his body to sit sideways on the sofa, propping his partially missing leg on the cushions; he tilted his grizzled head slightly so that he could see Sirius with both of his eyes. "Albus Dumbledore has been using old, out of date rules and twisting them to fit his purposes. One of the main things we're looking into is extreme favouritism toward the other houses in comparison to Slytherin House; another one is assigning demeaning tasks and detentions to some houses, but not others. We have testimonies given by former students indicating that blatant favouritism is used by Dumbledore to get the houses to fall into line with his wishes...the way he treats Slytherin House is just the tip of the iceberg, Laddie."

Sitting down in the chair opposite of the old Auror, Sirius nodded in agreement; if they could end the favouritism, it would be good for the future of the school. He knew it was slightly hypocritical of himself to want that to end...after all, he and the other Marauders had benefited from that favouritism. He looked back at Moody and noticed that the other man was nodding; he knew where Sirius' thoughts had gone.

"Yes, Lad, you and Remus Lupin are two of the best for informing the Board about the favouritism. We all know about the Marauders and what went on in your school years. Now that you're getting on with Snape, maybe we can get him to talk about what he suffered at Dumbledore's hands, too. I know that the four of you targeted him and other Slytherins, and that it may look bad for you at first, but it will all work out in the end...trust me."

"I...I don't know that Severus will say anything." Sirius looked down at his hands, hanging limply between his knees. "Some of what we did could have sent us to Azkaban...especially something I did. I nearly got Severus killed or turned when we were in sixth year; I don't think he'll forgive me or Remus for that, even though Remus was completely innocent."

"I'll be the one talking to Snape, don't you worry about that; I'm hoping that he'll see this as a chance to make things up with Potter. I don't know everything that went on during the boy's fifth year, but I do know that it caused him to run away and get emancipated; that's not something to take lightly." Moody tilted his head again and Sirius could feel his sharp gaze on the top of his head. "You do know that Snape caused the boy to run, don't you? Rather than the beating he got from the delinquents?"

Sirius' head shot up so that he could stare at the former Auror. "No, I caused him to run away, not Severus. If I had just accepted Harry, accepted that he had no control over who his parents were, he would never have run away." He looked back at his hands in disgust, as if they were covered in blood instead of just skin.

Alastor Moody had made his life one of never trusting anyone, one of observing everyone and everything around him; he knew the look that Sirius Black had on his face. It was a look of self-condemnation, a look of self-hatred; he blamed himself for what had happened to Potter, both in the school and out of it. He drew a deep breath...this investigation was going to open some very old wounds, along with the more recent ones; it would definitely be interesting...very interesting indeed. 

~OOooOO~

"Where are Remus and Charlie?" Harry had looked all over The Lion's Den for his godfather and the former dragon handler, but they were nowhere to be found.

"They weren't allowed to say anything, but they were chosen to be on the Board of Inquiry, along with my dad, Lucius and Roderick Parkinson." Bill pulled Harry down next to him on the sofa; he settled the younger man in his arms and placed a small kiss just behind one ear. "They had to leave early this morning and weren't sure when the investigation would be over; Remus asked me to wait until they were gone before telling you about it."

"Why, though? Why wait? I wouldn't have tried to stop them." Harry was confused.

"They knew, but they really weren't allowed to speak about it with anyone; Lucius said that they could tell one person where they would be, but no more than one. From what I understood, the selection of the Board members was extremely prejudiced against Albus; I know that Remus, Charlie, Lucius, Roderick, Alastor Moody and Oliver Wood were on the Board."

"Oliver? Why Oliver?"

"As a recently graduated student, he would be able to give information on certain things, like how much favouritism is still going on there and how some of the houses were treated by Dumbledore. I also know that several people were subpoenaed for interviews; Fred and George are amongst them, along with a Marcus Flint."

"Flint was a Slytherin; he should be able to give quite a bit of information about how Dumbledore favours one house over another. Are they interviewing the students and teachers?"

Bill nodded affirmatively; he knew most of them wouldn't be pleased about the methods to be used, but Veritaserum definitely gained results. "Yes, certain students will be pulled out of class and interviewed; both the students and teachers will be given Veritaserum to make sure that the truth comes out."

"Veritaserum? That's illegal to use on minors!" Harry was concerned that this was going to become a hunt for those that may have supported Voldemort and his beliefs. "Are there set questions that can be asked, or is the Board allowed to ask what they want?"

"No, there's a form that they have to follow; there are no personal questions on it. I was asked by Amelia Bones and Kingsley to help them come up with a list of questions that can be asked about the situation in the school, but containing no personal questions. I was wary, at first, but Amelia assured me that the investigation won't have anything to do with where people's loyalties were during the war; they wanted questions that had absolutely nothing to do with the war...just what the students and teachers knew about what was going on with Dumbledore and the way he runs the school. And, as to the Veritaserum, they sent out permission slips to all the parents of the students under the age of seventeen; if the parents declined, that student won't have Veritaserum used."

Harry breathed a small sigh of relief; he hadn't wanted to be responsible for anyone being arrested for who their parents had supported during the war. He wasn't worried for Draco or Lucius, but other students, like Pansy Parkinson and Theo Nott would be suspect; he knew that Roderick Parkinson had remained neutral, but Theo Nott's father had been part of Voldemort's Inner Circle. Harry snuggled back into Bill's arms, hoping that the Board crucified Dumbledore; he wanted to see the man out of a position of power, but he also wanted it to be done legally.

Bill tightened his arms around Harry and kept his mouth shut. He knew that Ron, Hermione and Seamus Finnegan had also received subpoenas and would have to be questioned under Veritaserum; their questions had been slightly different. Kingsley had written those questions himself; he wanted to find out if Dumbledore had authorised them to beat Harry and if he had known about the beating before it happened. This was not something that he was going to share with Harry; Bill knew it would upset him...and stress was not good for the baby. 

~OOooOO~

Albus sat behind his desk, looking with confusion at Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was sitting in the chair opposite him. "You need to do what?"

"I need to confiscate your sherbet lemons."

"Why would you need to do something like that?" Albus needed those sweets; the amount of sugar in them allowed him to defeat the effects of Veritaserum.

"Don't worry about it, Albus; it's just the ones you already have...I'm replacing them with ones I bought specifically for you." Kingsley smiled winningly; he didn't want the old man to know that the new sweets contained absolutely no sugar.

"Oh, well then...that's fine." Albus watched as the Head Auror summoned all of his sherbet lemons and dropped them into his right pocket; from his left pocket, Kingsley drew a small box and set it on the desk between them. Tapping it with his wand, Kingsley re-enlarged the box to show Albus it contained at least three months worth of his favourite sweet.

"There you go, Albus. When you need more, you just come to me...I'll keep you supplied with them. I've tried them and, while I really don't care for sherbet lemons, these are much better than the ones you've been getting."  It was amazing, the things you could buy in large quantities from muggle suppliers; Kingsley really had no idea what aspartame was, but, if it wasn't sugar, he was happy.

Albus popped one of the sweets into his mouth and savoured the sweet/tart taste before nodding his head enthusiastically; they were truly better than the ones he had been purchasing. Honeydukes was known for their phenomenal chocolate, but their sherbet lemons left quite a bit to be desired. "They're wonderful, Kingsley...thank you."

Kingsley smiled at the older wizard once more, secure in the knowledge that the old man thought that Kingsley was on his side.


	23. The Questioning Begins

The questioning began quite innocently; the first students called were Colin and Dennis Creevey, consummate Gryffindors through and through. Unbeknownst to them, however, their parents had signed the permission slips allowing the use of Veritaserum on them for the questioning; Amelia Bones sat down with Colin first, as he was the older of the two.

"Now, Mr. Creevey, your parents have allowed the use of Veritaserum for your questioning...open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

Colin's eyes almost popped out of his head; why would his parents allow them to use Veritaserum on him? "But...but..."

"No 'buts', Mr. Creevey. Open up." Amelia's eyes warned the boy that he was already treading on thin ice. Colin closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue; Amelia dropped the proper dosage on his tongue and waited. Once his eyes had opened and held the blankly glazed look of someone under the influence of Veritaserum, she began to ask her questions.

"State your full name."

"Colin Creevey."

"State your age in full years."

"I am fifteen years old."

"Did you know that Albus Dumbledore is using out of date Educational Decrees in order to enforce his power as Headmaster?"

"He mentioned once that he used older rules and bent them just slightly to keep unruly students in line."

"Did he ever specifically state that he used them to control Slytherin House?"

"He did. He said that the Slytherins were not to be trusted and that, by using the older rules, he could control them better."

"Does Albus Dumbledore favour any house over the others?"

"He favours Gryffindor House far more than any of the others."

The questions continued on in this vein for a little while before Amelia asked the one question she had added to the list.

"Did you know that the attack on Harry Potter was going to take place?"

"Yes, Ron, Seamus and Hermione had been up late talking about what they were going to do to Harry and, when I came back from a detention with Professor Snape, they asked if I wanted to join in on it."

"What did you say?"

"I told them that I didn't, but that they'd better watch what they do because of Professor Lupin."

"Why would Professor Lupin make a difference?"

"He's Harry's sort-of-godfather. Since he's a werewolf, he would probably do anything to protect Harry."

"Did you try to stop them?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Professor Snape had been awful towards every Gryffindor, not just Harry, and it was all because of Harry being his son."

"So, you think they were justified in beating Mr. Potter?"

"Yes. If it ended the unfair detentions and punishment from Snape, then yes, I think they were justified."

"What if I told you that their beating almost killed Harry Potter? What would you think about their justification then? Would they still be in the right?"

"I didn't know that. We weren't told anything about Harry's disappearance, just that he was gone."

"Answer my question, Mr. Creevey...would they still be in the right?"

"..."

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

"No...they wouldn't have still been justified. What Snape did wasn't worth Harry's death."

Amelia administered the antidote to the Veritaserum and dismissed Colin from the room. Before she called in his brother, she sat back and thought about what she had already learned; if Colin Creevey thought that the beating had been alright, what would the other students think? Severus Snape was not known for being fair to the other houses; like Dumbledore was biased toward Gryffindor, Snape was biased toward Slytherin House. Amelia rubbed her hands over her face and took a deep breath before calling in Dennis Creevey...she wasn't looking forward to this anymore; it was amazing the prejudice that could be spread by one bitter man and three angry teens. She removed the memory of Colin Creevey's interview and placed it in the pensieve sitting on the table next to her; drawing another deep breath, she called Dennis Creevey into the classroom. 

~OOooOO~

Sirius thought that he got the worst of the jobs of all of the members of the Board; he had to go around and question the portraits. The portraits had all been informed that they were to give truthful information only and that the castle would know if they hadn't; so far, Sirius had questioned seventeen portraits about Dumbledore's practices toward Slytherin House and had been told some things that made his blood run cold. He hadn't known that the Slytherins were treated as unfairly as they were; he had been told of the detentions held by Dumbledore where the Slytherin students had been placed under a form of the Imperius Curse and made to exercise or keep moving to the point where they collapsed from exhaustion; others had been given a toothbrush and made to clean around the base of every statue and suit of armour in certain, out of the way hallways; still others had been made to research methods of torture that _**might possibly**_ be used on them.

Sirius thought that Severus' bias toward his own house had been explained very well...and he hadn't even asked about Severus' practices. If Dumbledore was doing this to the Slytherins, it was no wonder that that house hated him as much as they did...actually is _**was**_ a wonder that they didn't hate him more! That made more sense when the portraits had informed him that Dumbledore had, after the detentions were over, cast Obliviates on each of the Slytherins; he didn't want to take the chance that word would get out about what he was doing.

Sirius heard a soft rustling of robes behind him, coming around the corner; he quickly shifted into his animagus form of a black Irish Wolfhound and slipped into the shadows of a nearby room. His fears were well founded when Albus Dumbledore came traipsing along the corridor, obviously looking for someone.

"Sirius? Sirius Black, where are you?" Albus looked around carefully, but completely missed the large dog lying on the floor behind the teacher's desk. "Hmm...I'll have to watch him more carefully...wouldn't do for him to find out what I have planned for him." Albus looked around again before leaving the room, muttering under his breath. "I wonder if the Imperius would work on him...I know it doesn't work on Harry, but Sirius isn't quite as strong in the mind as Harry is..." He kept muttering to himself as he walked out of hearing range, even for a dog's hearing.

Sirius shifted back into his human form and cast several disillusionment spells on himself and, just to be safe, a glamour making him resemble a sixth year Hufflepuff he had seen that morning; he knew Dumbledore had ways of 'seeing through' a disillusionment spell, so he wanted to make sure he was covered all the way around. He slipped out of the room and almost ran to the room where Amelia and Kingsley were conferring over what they had found from the first ten students Amelia had interviewed. Skidding to a halt beside her, Sirius cancelled all of the spells and cast a silencing spell on the room; haltingly, he began to tell the pair what he had seen and heard when Albus Dumbledore had come looking for him. 

~OOooOO~

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody confidently walked into the Headmaster's office; he knew that Albus wasn't in the office right then, so he could do what he came for and face no arguments from the old goat. He quickly walked up to the side-board that was filled with all sorts of trinkets and gadgets and plucked the Sorting Hat off of its surface; placing it on his head, he waited for the hat to 'wake up'.

He heard a sound that he associated with his own creaking joints and wasn't surprised to hear a slightly rusty sounding voice in his head. "Alastor Moody...haven't I sorted you once already?"

"Yes, you have, but this isn't to do with my sorting, it's to do with the sorting of other students...namely those since Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster. I was sorted the year before he took over the position."

The hat grumbled a bit and settled a little more firmly on his head. "Which sorting are you concerned about Alastor?"

Moody grinned slightly; if anyone had been in the room with him, they probably would have recoiled in fear. "Not any one particular sorting, but actually several...namely Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter." He could almost feel the hat's surprise at the names he reeled off.

"Such an odd collection of names, Alastor...why the curiosity about them, in particular?"

"Stop stalling, Hat."

"My name is Tavin, I would appreciate it if you would use it. I can see that you and I have much the same personality, Alastor, and I think that we should be on a first name basis."

"Fine, Tavin...now stop stalling!"

"Alright, alright...what is it you want to ask?" Tavin had a feeling he knew what the former Auror was going to ask; he had been waiting for this day for years.

"You are tied in with the magic of the castle herself, correct?"

"Yes...I am granted my abilities through the auspices of Hogwarts herself."

"If someone, say the current Headmaster, had tampered with your ability to sort the students properly, would there be anyone to whom you could report this?"

"Hmm..no, there is not. The only way to have a conversation with me is to do it the way we are now; since only the first year students place me on their heads, I can't hold a discussion with anyone else. Albus talks to me quite frequently, but never places me on his head."

Alastor thought for a moment before grinning again. "And, has Albus Dumbledore tampered with your abilities? Has he forbidden you to sort certain students into certain houses?"

If Tavin could have smiled, he would have done so; it had been years since he had had the chance to speak so freely about the current Headmaster...whom he hated with a passion. "Yes, Alastor Moody, Albus Dumbledore has tampered with my abilities in respect to certain students."

"Can you speak out loud when you are on someone's head, other than to shout out a house name, that is?"

"Ah, yes! I am capable of that, but I must be on the questioner's head at the time; the questioner may ask the question vocally and I will respond so that others may hear me. Are you planning on removing me from this office?"

"Yes...Amelia and Kingsley need to hear what you have to say."

"Then take me with you, Alastor. You would do best to leave by the floo; the castle has just informed me that Dumbledore is on his way back to this office."

Alastor removed the hat, gently folded it in half and placed it in his robe pocket. He strode over to the hearth on the opposite wall and threw in some floo powder; shouting "Great Hall", Alastor Moody stepped into the green flames and was whirled away. The green flames flared and disappeared just as the door to the office opened and Albus walked in.

Albus looked around his office...something was off; he couldn't place exactly what it was, but he knew that something in that office had changed. He felt a shiver of...something...slip down his spine and he was struck by a feeling of worry. Shaking it off, he moved over to his desk and sat in his large chair; he was just being fanciful...there was nothing wrong.


	24. And the Hat Speaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Wyrdsmith for the use of Tavin, the Sorting Hat.

Amelia Bones was in a quandary...she had interviewed twenty-five students so far and all of them had known about Albus' use of the older Decrees. Most of them had been in Gryffindor, but several had been in Slytherin and a couple were from Ravenclaw; she hadn't interviewed any Hufflepuffs yet, but she was certain that she was going to receive the same information from them. If almost all of the students were aware of the misuse of the Educational Decrees, why hadn't any of them informed their parents or their Heads of House about it? She knew that Minerva had not known; she had already asked her and Minerva had sworn, on her magic, that she had known nothing about it...apparently Albus had kept his worst proclivities away from his Deputy Headmistress.

She sighed heavily and waited for Kingsley to join her again; this was only the first day of questioning and she was already hating this inquiry. She looked up as the door opened; it was not Kingsley, but Alastor Moody who entered.

"Alastor, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to hold off on the other interviews for today and tomorrow."

"Why? What have you found?" Amelia sat upright in her chair and waited for the retired Auror's answer; she didn't have long to wait.

Alastor smiled slightly, causing a shiver to run down Amelia's back; that wasn't something she was overly anxious to see again. "This is what I've found." Alastor placed the Sorting Hat on the table in front of her and stepped back; Amelia watched as the hat began to move and looked up at Alastor again. "Well...put it on, Amelia."

She picked up the hat that she hadn't seen in at least thirty years and placed it gingerly on her head; she shouldn't have been surprised to hear the voice in her head again, but she was. "Good afternoon, Madam Bones."

"Erm...Good afternoon...Hat." She ignored Alastor's chuckle and listened to the hat instead.

"Tavin, my name is Tavin...now, Mr. Moody has brought me to you because I have quite the story to tell you. I'm asking that you gather the Board of Inquiry here and cancel the rest of your interviews for the day and possibly into tomorrow; what I have to tell you will make it worth your while."

Amelia nodded at Alastor and watched as he stumped out into the corridor to summon the Board and Kingsley. "What can you tell us that we're not going to find out from the students?"

"Oh, quite a bit, Madam Bones, quite a bit." 

~OOooOO~

Once all of the Board had gathered in the classroom, Moody plucked the hat off of Amelia's head and placed it on his own. "I'll be asking the questions. Tavin, the Sorting Hat for all of you who didn't know that he has a name, can answer out loud as long as he is sitting on someone's head at the time; that's the only way he can convey to anyone what he wants to say. So far, over the years, only the first years have put him on, so he's had no reason to say anything other than the usual sorting nonsense...that's about to change. Tavin, say hello to everyone."

"Hello, esteemed members of the Hogwarts Board of Inquiry. I have asked that all of your activities for today and tomorrow be cancelled, so that I may speak to all of you and you may ask questions as they occur to you. Alastor will have to ask me the questions, as I cannot hear you, but I will be able to answer out loud so that all of you may hear me. Alastor, I believe that you have a question that has been burning on your tongue since our earlier conversation." Amelia set up a dictaquill and a roll of Ever-Last parchment and waited for the questioning to begin. The dead silence in the room was broken by Alastor Moody's first question.

"Has Albus Dumbledore tampered with your ability to sort students into the houses that are the most appropriate for them?"

"Ah, yes...Albus Dumbledore is known, at least to the magical inhabitants of this castle, to be very manipulative when it comes to us and our purposes. Within two years of his stepping up to the position of Headmaster, Dumbledore had altered quite a few of our basic purposes...mine especially. I was originally supposed to sort a student into a certain house based on their strengths and weaknesses; when my purpose was altered, I was forced to sort a student based only on their weaknesses. For instance...Sirius Black...you were sorted into Gryffindor, even though you would have performed much better in Slytherin; the reason for this was because your bravery was not nearly as strong as your cunning. Remus Lupin...you should have been sorted into Ravenclaw, as your intelligence far outweighed your bravery. Please do not misunderstand me, your bravery in dealing with your 'condition' is phenomenal, but your intelligence and knowledge would have led you to a solution, much like the Wolfsbane Potion, long before the end of your time in this school. I believe that you, in conjunction with Severus Snape's assistance, could have come up with a much better version of the Wolfsbane Potion before Damocles came out with his first version of the potion.

"Arthur Weasley...as much as this may pain you...you should have been in Hufflepuff; your loyalty and acceptance of hard work were much stronger than your bravery when you were first sorted. Although, by the time your youngest son was sorted, had you been sorted again, I would have definitely placed you in Gryffindor. Your wife, however, should have been placed in Slytherin from the beginning; I do not believe that would have ever changed; you need to have yourself checked out for compulsion spells and love potions." Arthur looked startled for a moment, but then his eyes narrowed in anger; he made a mental note to go to Gringotts and have the goblins test him for spells and potions.

Alastor Moody was floored; he hadn't expected these kinds of revelations when he had asked the question; he drew a deep breath before asking his next question. "Are there more?"

"Oh, my dear Alastor, almost the entire school has been missorted due to Dumbledore's meddling; I will name but but a few more students:

 

Harry James Potter

Severus Tobias Snape

James Charles Potter

Peter David Pettigrew

Ronald Bilius Weasley

Ginevra Molly Weasley

Theodore Thomas Nott, Jr.

Neville Franklin Longbottom

 

"All of these students were placed into houses they didn't belong in; some of them shouldn't have been sorted at all."

"What do you mean by 'not sorted at all'?" Amelia had the feeling that they were going to be hearing something that was going to anger a good portion of those listening. Moody repeated the question.

"Ah...well, one of the things that the Founders gave me the ability to do was reject a student if, and only if, they didn't fit into any of the houses. Peter Pettigrew was a perfect example of this; he shouldn't have attended Hogwarts at all."

Sirius slumped back in his chair; he had known, all those years ago, that the hat hadn't wanted to sort Peter into any house. Peter had told him, in their second year, that the hat had tried pleading with him to leave the school because he had no place in any of the houses; he wasn't brave, he wasn't loyal, he wasn't exceptionally cunning or sneaky and he definitely was _**not**_ smart. Peter had said that, when he had refused to leave, the hat had reluctantly placed him in Gryffindor because of what little bravery the hat said it found; he had kept that secret all these years all because Peter had asked him to, so that he could receive an education...he shouldn't have. Sirius was aware of the weight of Remus' stare, but chose to ignore it for the time being; they would talk later. He became aware that the hat had continued to speak.

"Some of the students argued with me; but I couldn't go against the alterations that Dumbledore had made to my intrinsic purpose. The only student that I would have sorted against what Dumbledore wanted was Harry Potter; he should have been in Slytherin." The room almost exploded when Tavin made this announcement; their saviour...in Slytherin... _ **NEVER!**_

"Why should Harry Potter have been sorted into Slytherin?" Alastor was determined to find this out right now; he had the feeling that it could possibly affect the rest of the investigation.

"Due to his childhood, Mr. Potter was exemplary at hiding things and being generally sneaky and cunning. I was privy to flashes of his childhood during the sorting and was greatly tempted to go against his wishes of being placed anywhere other than Slytherin; I am glad that I didn't do this. He flourished in the House of the Lions and finally came into himself when he left the school. Albus Dumbledore had given me strict instructions when it came to Mr. Potter; he was to go nowhere other than Gryffindor. I was told that, if Mr. Potter argued with me over his placement in Gryffindor, I was to sort him there anyway; Dumbledore already had plans for him...even then."

Alastor Moody had been correct; this would definitely affect the rest of the investigation...and it definitely wouldn't be in Dumbledore's favour.


	25. All of the Improper Sortings

Amelia could feel the shock radiating in waves off of the other members of the Board; none of them had expected things of this nature when the Sorting Hat...Tavin...had begun to speak. She kept a close eye on both Remus Lupin and Lucius Malfoy; she knew that they were closer to Harry Potter than any of the other members, including Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley.

Lucius, seated next to his partner, could feel the anger from Remus and placed a calming hand on his leg; they could discuss this more when they got back to their room, but now was not the time and here was not the place. "Calm, Love...stay calm."

"Easy for you to say...you weren't just told that your son was missorted because of that meddling, manipulative old man's _**'plans'**_!"

"I know, Remus, I know...but there's nothing we can do about it right now. Harry's out of here; he's no longer where anyone can hurt him." These words, more than the hand now rubbing in circles on his thigh, worked to calm Remus; Lucius was right, Harry was no longer a student here and couldn't be harmed by Albus Dumbledore again. He nodded and fought to relax his battle-ready muscles; slowly, but surely, it worked.

Amelia looked back at the shell-shocked former Auror only after she received a nod from Lucius, telling her that Remus was calming down and no one was in any danger...at least...no one in that room. "Tavin, you mentioned other students...tell me about them."

Alastor relayed the question and they all waited with bated breath for the hat's answer.

"Ah, my children, I am so sorry to say that almost every student who has attended Hogwarts since 1957 has been missorted. I was able to squeak past on some of the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, but other students weren't so lucky. Neville Longbottom was one of the more unlucky students; this should come as no surprise to anyone who knows this young man, but he should have been placed in Hufflepuff, just like his mother. He has bravery in him, oh yes, but I am afraid it would only be brought to the forefront during a time of immense strife. Theodore Nott, Jr. should have been placed in Ravenclaw; his intelligence far outweighs his ambition. Ginevra Weasley should have been sorted into Slytherin House." Arthur surprised those around him by nodding in agreement; he was under no illusions about his daughter's ambition and cunning. He thought about something the hat had said before.

"You also mentioned my son, Ronald Weasley; where should he have been sorted? He waited, barely breathing, for the hat's answer; he had a feeling he knew what it would say.

"I am truly sorry to have to tell you this, but your youngest son is another one like Peter Pettigrew; he should not have been allowed to attend Hogwarts as a student."

"Why?" Everyone in the room could hear the suppressed tears in Arthur's voice.

"Unfortunately, he is not an acceptable candidate for this school; his magic is just barely above the cut-off point between being a wizard and being a squib." Arthur bowed his head and let the tears flow. "This is not from anything that he has done or that was done to him, but comes from, as it was once put to me many years ago, spreading the magic too thin. There are reasons that wizards, as magical beings, usually only have one or two children; the magic that parents are allotted to give their children for the creation of their magical cores will only spread so far, unless the parents are both exceptionally powerful. The first-born child is always the most powerful; the second-born child will be a little less so, and if there are more after that, the magic sort of, to use a colloquialism, peters out. There are occasionally aberrations to this rule, such as your twins, Mr. Weasley; if you look at their power levels, as compared to those of your third son, Percy, you will find that his magical strength is not as great as theirs. Your daughter is a little more powerful than Ronald, but not by much...she just knows how to use it more wisely."

Arthur slowly nodded his head; he had been right...Ronald shouldn't have been allowed to come to Hogwarts at all. He knew that the decision to allow Ronald to attend had been made by Albus Dumbledore himself; most likely he wanted a friend for The Boy Who Lived and wanted to make sure that that friend was from an incorruptible Light-sided family. He knew, had known for years, that he was allowing his family to be manipulated by the old man, but hadn't honestly thought that it was quite this bad. Albus had mentioned that Harry's relatives would probably not treat him very well and he was going to use that to his advantage; if the boy latched on to one of the first people to show him compassion and caring, it would shape the way he looked at the war...it would keep him from going dark. Arthur sighed and resigned himself to having a very uncomfortable conversation with Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"What about Severus Snape and James Potter? You mentioned them as well, Tavin." Alastor Moody's question gained the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hmm...Severus Snape...Ravenclaw, of course; his thirst for learning and proficiency with potions would have assured him a definite place amongst the Ravens. He did, of course, excel at potions, even though he had been placed in Slytherin; I do believe this was because of his natural leanings toward that subject. If I remember correctly, his mother, Eileen, also excelled in potion making. As for James Potter...his tendencies to be sneaky, cunning and generally ambitious would have served him well in Slytherin House...where he should have been sorted. Before you all become angry with me, I am merely telling you what I saw in these student's minds. James Potter was not the brave and daring hero that most want to make of him; he was more cunning than that. He could look at a situation, plan a prank and find at least three avenues of escape before the basic plans of the prank were ever shared with his cohorts; those are the actions of a true Slytherin. Also, do not forget...his mother, Dorea Potter, was born a Black...a family most noted for their dark sympathies and tendencies; most will not remember this, but that lady was sorted into Slytherin House when Dumbledore was still the Transfiguration professor."

"What about the rest of our children? You said that most of the school had been missorted...what of my daughter?" Maximilian Bulstrode's deep voice echoed in the room; he was backed up by Roderick Parkinson's emphatic nod.

In response to Alastor's relaying of the question, Tavin's features scrunched up in thought; most of the room wanted to laugh at the expression, but the atmosphere was too heavy for levity. "Millicent Bulstrode...as much as this may anger you, dear Sir, your daughter would have been better served in Hufflepuff; she is kind, loyal and very faithful to her friends. Not that she hasn't done the Slytherin House proud with her abilities, but she shouldn't be there."

Maximilian frowned for a moment and then his facial expression eased. "It doesn't matter...she is her mother's daughter and that's where Estelle was placed." He nodded in acceptance and rested against the back of his chair; he would have been proud of his daughter, no matter where she had been sorted.

"Mr. Parkinson, your daughter was one of the few in that year that I was able to sort correctly; she should have always been placed exactly where I sorted her...Slytherin House...there was nowhere else that she would have fit in. I was also able to sort Draco Malfoy correctly; Dumbledore seemed to realise that I had overridden his instructions on several of the students during that sorting and strengthened his instructions right after I sorted your son, Mr. Malfoy." Lucius sighed in relief; the only other option for sorting Draco that he would have easily accepted would have been Ravenclaw. Tavin seemed to realise where his thoughts had gone and let out a rusty chuckle.

"Yes, he would have gone to Ravenclaw if Dumbledore had tightened his restrictions before Draco's sorting...you need not have worried on that point. I saw the intense fear of being placed anywhere else in his head and acted accordingly; it would have done him more harm than good to have been sorted into a different house. Most of the incorrect sortings actually did very little to no harm to anyone; the students just had to learn to accept their weaknesses and work on them until they became their strengths."

Amelia scrubbed her face with her hands; there had to be a way to fix this mess. "Is there a way to fix this? Can it be corrected...or is every student from here on out going to be sorted into the wrong house?"

There was a brief pause as the hat thought about the question. "There is a way, but it would have to be done by either the Headmaster or his Deputy. I cannot just ignore the instructions I have been given; over the centuries, several of the Headmasters have made small changes to my instructions, but this was, by far, the most all-encompassing change that has ever been made. I would suggest that Minerva McGonagall, as the Deputy Headmistress, should make the change, allowing me to return to the previous set of instructions; before Dumbledore's change, they were last altered in 1745. That set of instructions worked very well for two hundred years; before that, it had been almost three hundred years since the prior alteration."

Amelia nodded and made a note on a separate piece of parchment; she was going to see that done as soon as this meeting ended. 

~OOooOO~

Albus had received notification from Kingsley that the Board of Inquiry was going to be at the school for closer to a month, rather than the two weeks that had been originally stated. Albus knew that the students would have to stay at the school as long as the Board was actively performing interviews; he wasn't looking forward to the howlers he was going to receive from parents when he sent owls to inform them of this new development. From the howlers he had already received, he knew he was already skating on thin ice when it came to certain families; Molly Weasley had demanded that Ginevra be sent home immediately, as she didn't want Arthur to speak to their daughter.

Albus couldn't understand the woman's fears; she had signed the permission slip allowing Veritaserum to be used on her daughter. He knew that Arthur had signed the slip for Ronald and was dreading that interview; he didn't know if the Finnegans had signed the slip for their son, but Hermione Granger was already seventeen...Veritaserum would automatically be used during her questioning.

He sighed as he looked around the office he had occupied for the last forty-one years; he thought he might as well start packing. Once some of the things he had done were revealed, he knew he'd be sacked immediately...they might not even wait for the investigation to be concluded. Albus didn't regret anything he'd done; it had all been for 'The Greater Good' and, in his mind, that was more important than seeing that children were coddled and pampered. He hadn't had much of a childhood after his father was carted off to Azkaban, why should Harry Potter's life have been any better?

Albus found his righteous indignation rising again as he thought of his little chess piece; it hadn't been fair that Harry Potter had resigned the game before it had ended. All of his plans, all of his manipulations since the death of Voldemort...all for nothing.


	26. Potions, Veritaserum, Shopping and Smut

Harry woke suddenly; he couldn't figure out why for a moment, then he realised that he was hearing Bill's voice. He was talking to someone via the floo; Harry could hear the strain in his voice and walked over to the bedroom's hearth to kneel by his side.

"Dad, I...I don't know what to say...No, I didn't know about any potions or spells; why would she use them on you?...I can arrange for a couple of goblins to meet you at the school or at Hogsmeade, if you would prefer that...Alright, I'll get that arranged as quickly as possible...I'll get back to you on when and where you're to meet them."

Bill ended the fire-call and sat heavily on the floor; Harry could sense the shock rolling off of him in waves and was concerned about what had caused it. "What is it, Bill? What's wrong?"

Bill looked at Harry and gathered him in his arms; he needed the unconditional comfort that Harry provided to him right now. "The Sorting Hat...Tavin, by name...has told the Board of Inquiry some disturbing things, but the only one that Dad could tell me was that Mum may have been feeding him love potions and placing him under compulsion spells. He wants me to arrange with Gringotts to have a couple of goblins meet him at Hogsmeade on Saturday; he got permission from Amelia Bones, the Head of the Board of Inquiry, to leave to meet them. I've got to tell them that they'll need to check him for spells and potions...they're not going to like this."

"Why? It's more money for them, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but they hate love potions because of what they do to a person; they override any sense of self-preservation that a person may have."

"I don't understand."

"Think about this...you're given a love potion...that potion makes you instantly 'fall in love' with the brewer, because they have to put one of their own hairs into the potion. The 'love' that you feel is overpowering; it will make you do anything...even things that you wouldn't normally do, like sign your Gringotts vaults over to the brewer. That's why the goblins made a blood test mandatory before allowing you to add someone to your accounts; the blood test will find any love or compulsion potions that have been given to you, it will list the brewer and it will tell you the date it was given to you. Gringotts has Ministry approval to remove the potion from your blood and to erase any effects that the potion may have had; all Gringotts transactions that occurred during the time that the potion was in your system are voided out and you have to redo them."

"There's a potion that will do _**that**_? That's just disgusting!"

"Yes it is...but there's a deeper meaning here. If Mum has been giving Dad those potions for years, possibly since before they were married, she's going to be arrested immediately; Gringotts has to report any love potions to the Ministry and Aurors are sent out right away. If Mum has been doing this...she's going to end up in Azkaban...quite possibly for the rest of her life."

Harry wrapped his arms around Bill, trying to comfort him as best as he could; no matter how she had treated him, Molly was Bill's mother...she was Charlie's mother...this had to have hit his lover hard.

"Why don't you get ready; we're going to have to go to Gringotts to request this, they won't do it via fire-call. It'll also get you out of the house for a bit; you haven't been off of the grounds since you got here."

"What about people from the school? I know that Snape and Minerva leave the school and run errands there frequently."

"Because of what the Hat has revealed, the school is on lock down; no one can get in or out for the rest of the investigation, except for the outside interviews. Dad was given special permission because the potions could possibly affect his judgement. We run very little risk of meeting up with anyone from the school while we're out." 

~OOooOO~

Amelia made the decision to allow Alastor to continue to interview Tavin alone; there were other things that needed to be done and Alastor was the one person she could trust to get the entire story out of Tavin. She had arranged for Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnegan to be transported to the school, through the lock down, by Aurors; she needed to interview them as soon as possible. They were arriving that morning, directly after breakfast, so she needed to be ready; the room was already warded with as many privacy and silencing spells as Kingsley could put on one room.

As she walked down to the Great Hall, Amelia pondered what was going to happen when those three were interviewed; she knew that all three were over the age of seventeen, so there was no problem with administering Veritaserum to them...the problem was going to be what would happen when they started talking. The main thing she wanted to know about was the manipulations of the Headmaster; the secondary thing she wanted to know was how far the Headmaster was willing to go to control them. If he had used compulsion spells or potions on them, the man had already consigned himself to Azkaban; depending on the amounts and the frequency, he might be in there for the rest of his life. Amelia wasn't taking it for granted that he _**had**_ used them, but the possibility was high that he had; with what had likely happened to Arthur Weasley, she wasn't taking any chances.

The Board sat at their designated table, at the back of the Hall, and talked quietly amongst themselves; Amelia had made some changes to who was doing what. Since Sirius Black had come to her and shown her his memory of Albus seeking him out (along with what the man had said), she had decided that he was not to be on his own. She paired him with Xenophilius Lovegood; yes the man was slightly potty, but he excelled at knowing when things were going to happen. She personally thought that he had a bit of the seer in him and he had been more than happy to be partnered with Black; she had the feeling that Xeno already knew what had happened and would work to make sure nothing like that happened again...it also helped that he was very quick with his wand.

Kingsley nudged Amelia slightly and directed her gaze to the doors, where the figure of the Assistant Head Auror Gawain Robards stood; a nod of the austere man's head told her that the three former students had arrived and been sequestered in their own rooms, each guarded by an Auror. She nodded back and shared a glance with Kingsley; they would start with Hermione Granger immediately following the meal. 

~OOooOO~

After they had made the arrangements with Gringotts to send two goblins to meet Arthur in Hogsmeade on Saturday, Bill took Harry out to lunch; they had decided to make a day of it and enjoy their time out of The Lion's Den. After they finished their meal, they did a little shopping; Harry had insisted that they go out into muggle London for a good portion of the shopping trip. While Diagon Alley was fantastic, they didn't carry half of the things Harry wanted for the baby; some things, like an automatic nappy system, they would have to get via owl order, but a cot and changing table they could get at Tesco.

Bill had never been inside a store like Tesco before and Harry had only been once, when Aunt Petunia hadn't been able to drop him at Mrs. Figg's house; they both had the time of their lives, shopping for everything that they could find. Bill finally found the cot they wanted, after an hour of searching and looking at every cot the store had; it was a matter of ten more minutes and the help of a very nice young salesgirl that they found the changer and wardrobe that matched the cot. After picking up a few more things, including new trainers for Harry and some new denims for Bill, they paid for everything with Harry's Gringotts card and Bill pushed the heavy cart out into the lot. They refused the help of a young man looking for some extra money and pushed the cart around to the back of the building.

Harry kept watch while Bill shrank everything down and put the furniture into the bag with his denims; they had no other way to get it back to The Lion's Den and they had no intention of calling the Knight Bus with full-sized furniture boxes when they could shrink things down and store them in another bag. They walked off of the lot and made their way into an alley; Bill held up his wand and, less than a minute later, they were pressing back against the wall in the hopes that they wouldn't get run over by the bus.

Once they were back at The Lion's Den, they went into the room that was going to become a nursery and enlarged everything. Harry didn't want to put anything together yet; that would wait until it was closer to the time when the baby was due. They decided to take a short nap, as Harry was starting to get tired.

Bill swiftly undressed them both, down to their pants, and helped a yawning Harry into the bed. As he curled up behind Harry, Bill felt his body respond to the feeling of the younger man's body pressed against his. They hadn't made love in a few days and Bill was definitely feeling the urge now; however, he wasn't about to wake Harry up. He felt himself slipping into sleep almost against his will; maybe he was more tired than he had originally thought. 

~OOooOO~

Harry woke up slowly this time; he stretched slightly and stopped when he felt Bill's body behind him. It had been almost a week since the last time they had made love and Harry wanted Bill...right now. He had felt Bill's erection just as he had fallen asleep and had given a moment's thought to initiating something then, but he had fallen asleep. Now, however, he was awake and his hormones were going haywire; Poppy had warned him that this might happen. Because he was a man, his body wasn't used to the 'female' hormones that were coursing throughout his system; she had told him, in private of course, that giving in to the urges for sex was normal and even recommended. Harry carefully pulled himself out of Bill's arms; before he started anything, he had to relieve himself. This was another issue with pregnancy that Poppy had warned him about...the need to pee almost constantly.

Once he was done and had washed up, he returned to the bed, shedding his pants as he went; he crawled in next to Bill and gently eased his pants off as well. Harry laid himself out flat, right between Bill's legs and smirked as he saw the stirrings of Bill's cock; apparently his body wanted this, too. He gently took Bill in his hand and gave him a pump before licking a stripe from his balls up the length of the cock in front of him; he was rewarded by a slight moan from Bill and a definite hardening of his favourite play-toy.

Making sure that Bill was still asleep, Harry took Bill in his mouth and worked on making him as hard as he could; the background music to his efforts was the sound of Bill's moans and whimpers. As soon as he was satisfied with Bill, Harry grabbed his wand and cast several spells on himself; one for cleansing, one for lubricating and one for stretching. Carefully, he climbed on top of Bill's unresisting _**asleep**_ body and lined Bill's cock up with his entrance; slowly he sank down until Bill was balls deep inside of him.

Bill was having the most wonderful dream...Harry was blowing him and he couldn't do anything to stop him...not that he wanted to. After a short while, the dream shifted and he felt Harry lower himself onto his cock; the feeling of tight warmth made Bill realise that this was _**not**_ a dream. He opened his eyes and beheld his partner staring straight into his eyes as he slowly lifted and lowered himself on Bill's cock; he bent his arms at the elbows and opened his hands for Harry to use as leverage. Harry grasped his hands and began to really work himself on Bill's body.

Harry knew that he was going to come quickly; he could already feel the pleasure curling low in his belly. He picked up the pace slightly and changed the angle he was bouncing at; he saw stars as the length inside of him brushed up against his prostate. Harry faltered, not having the strength to keep going; Bill sensed this and, pulling Harry down onto his chest, he rolled them over, so that he was now on top. He rearranged their positions slightly and came up on his knees over Harry; bending down, he joined his lips with Harry's and began to thrust.

Harry almost screamed as the new position meant that Bill was constantly brushing against his prostate; the pleasure boiled up inside him and he did scream as he released his seed. Bill kept his pace and soon followed Harry over the edge; the pleasure was so intense that he almost blacked out from it. He couldn't remember ever having an orgasm quite like that one...but he hoped it happened again...and again...and again.

Bill pulled Harry's shuddering body close to his; leaning over him, Bill placed a gentle kiss on Harry's belly, where their child was growing. He was only about 14 weeks along, so there were no real signs that the baby was there...except for a slight thickening around his middle. Bill was hoping to see more signs soon...the thought of Harry, swollen with their child, was an aphrodisiac that he had never even imagined before. He felt his cock give a half-hearted twitch and he almost chuckled...they'd have to see what positions worked best when Harry got bigger...Bill couldn't wait!


	27. What Has  He Done?

Amelia arranged her things on the table in front of her; she was waiting for Kingsley to bring Hermione Granger into the room, then he would stand at the door, making sure that nothing interrupted these interviews. She was just setting up her dictaquill when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

Hermione looked around the room; this was not what she had been expecting when she had received the summons to be interviewed for the Board of Inquiry. She had expected a room full of people looking down on her, judging her for her actions; the only other people in the room were Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Miss Granger, please have a seat. Now, we're going to get started right away with your questioning; do you have any questions for me before we begin?"

"Will I be given Veritaserum?"

"Yes, Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt will be administering the Veritaserum to you; once the interview is over, he will also be administering the antidote. As you are seventeen years of age, an adult in our world, I do not need your permission to use Veritaserum. Anything else?"

Hermione shook her head; she wasn't looking forward to this. She really didn't know exactly why she, Ron and Seamus had acted the way they did; oh, Ron was a jealous git, true, but that didn't excuse what they had done to Harry. She had realised, not long after her expulsion, that something wasn't right; if Madam Bones didn't ask the question while she was under the effects of the Veritaserum, Hermione was going to speak about it afterwards...she'd even take an oath as to what she said.

"Stick out your tongue. Once the Veritaserum is there, close your mouth and wait until I tell you that you can speak." Hermione stuck out her tongue and shivered as the Veritaserum was dripped into her mouth; the stuff really didn't have a taste, but the effects were almost instantaneous. She felt as if she was seeing things through a fog and knew that her movements would reflect that.

"State your full name."

"Hermione Jean Granger." Her voice was very emotionless and sounded like it was coming from far away.

"State your age in full years."

"I am seventeen years old."

"Did you know that Albus Dumbledore is using out of date Educational Decrees in order to enforce his power as Headmaster?"

"Yes, he mentioned it to me and, especially to Ron; he said that he wanted only the best for this school and getting the Slytherins out would be for the best. He didn't think that as many of them would stay as they did."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He said that, if he used those rules, the Slytherins would probably get upset and complain to their parents; after that, he was hoping that the parents would pull those students out of the school."

"Why would he want that? Wouldn't he want as many students coming here as possible?"

"He said that he felt the Slytherins would be better off in a school like Durmstrang. They teach the Dark Arts there and he said that all Slytherins are naturally proficient at them. He said that he wanted to eliminate Slytherin House completely, as it only produced dark wizards and diluted the purity of Light magic."

Amelia sat still for a moment...this interview was going to be highly interesting. "So he admitted that he uses the outdated Decrees to control Slytherin House?"

"Yes, he said that he knew what was best for the school and it would be best if there were no students who tended to embrace the Dark Arts."

"Does Albus Dumbledore favour any house over the others?"

"Yes, he favours Gryffindor House far more than any other house. He said that it was his house, he was sorted there, and he wanted to make sure that it remained the most outstanding house at Hogwarts."

Amelia shuffled some papers around to find the list of questions that Kingsley had written. "Did Albus Dumbledore know that the beating of Harry Potter was going to take place?"

"Yes, he told us that Harry was starting to go Dark, and that a beating should keep him in his place."

"You mean to tell me that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school, authorised you, Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnegan to beat an innocent boy because of something that Albus couldn't know or prove?"

"Yes, he said that Harry needed to be kept in line, that the issues he had had with his relatives were all because he had the ability to turn Dark. He said that Harry had absorbed You-Know-Who's magic when he killed him, and that this would make Harry a very powerful Dark wizard."

"Did you want to take part in the beating?"

"No, not really, but it was as if I couldn't control myself; I felt like there was someone else telling me what to do and that voice was telling me that Harry Potter needed to be beaten and downtrodden."

Amelia and Kingsley shared a look; this was proof that Albus had either cast compulsion spells on Hermione Granger or had given her a potion. "We are going to test you, after the interview is over; we need to see if you were given any potions to make you act differently or if you had compulsion spells cast on you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I was going to ask if it was possible that either of those two things had been used on me anyway."

"Do you know if he used spells or potions on Ronald Weasley or Seamus Finnegan?"

"I don't; Seamus would be the more likely of the two. He's not a violent person, normally, but he seemed awfully bloodthirsty at that time."

"What about Mr. Weasley?"

"He's always been jealous of Harry's fame and his money; I think that, if Professor Dumbledore asked him to do it, he wouldn't have had much of a problem with it."

Amelia motioned to Kingsley and he administered the antidote to Hermione. She felt much more coherent once the Veritaserum was out of her system; she looked at Amelia Bones and realised just how much information she had given them. It's not that she didn't want to give the information, it just seemed so damning, when she thought about what she'd said.

"You mentioned giving me a test to see if there are any potions in my body; wouldn't the potions have worn off by now?"

"No, compulsion potions and spells remain active until they are removed, either by the brewer or caster, or by the Ministry. Hold out your hand." Hermione held out her right hand and watched as Kingsley took a small phial of blood; he took it over to another table and applied it to a piece of parchment. All three of them watched closely as writing appeared on the parchment; the writing seemed to go on forever before it finally stopped...both sides of the parchment were filled with listings of potions and spells that had been cast on Hermione. After each one was the name Albus Dumbledore.

Hermione collapsed back onto her chair; she had had the feeling this would be bad, but she hadn't any clue just how bad it had really been. She looked over at the date of the first potion and saw that it was in 1991...her first year at Hogwarts; she had been under the influence of compulsion potions since just before Christmas of that year. Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes; she had been a puppet for the Headmaster from the time her friendship with Harry began. 

~OOooOO~

After Hermione Granger was escorted back to her room, Amelia sat with Kingsley for a few minutes before summoning Seamus Finnegan; she wanted to make sure that both of them understood exactly what had happened during Granger's interview. They sat, staring at each other, before Amelia gathered herself and broke the silence.

"What do we do, Kingsley? What we've found from Miss Granger alone will put Albus in a black cell for the rest of his life; what else are we going to find out?"

"Well, from what she said, and the potions in her system, Granger had no control over her actions; Dumbledore was guiding her." Kingsley sighed heavily. "Most likely, he was controlling all three of them."

"Miss Granger said that she didn't think that Weasley would have needed the potions or spells to act out against Harry; he probably didn't need much prompting to terrorise his former friend." She looked at the parchment containing the listing of potions that were affecting Hermione Granger. "Go get Finnegan."

Seamus was led into the classroom by his guard; like Hermione, he had been expecting a room full of people, not just Madam Bones and Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. He sat in the chair that Madam Bones indicated and prayed that this was over quickly; he was jolted out of his thoughts by the woman's first comment.

"Hold out your hand, Mr. Finnegan. We need to take a blood sample from you to check for potions and spells that may be affecting you."

Seamus didn't flinch when Kingsley took a phial of his blood and applied it to a piece of parchment on another table. "What potions d'you think might have been used on me?"

"We'll get into that in a moment, Mr. Finnegan; first we need for you to stick out your tongue, so that Head Auror Shacklebolt can give you the proper dosage of Veritaserum." She watched as the young man instantly complied with her order; she was beginning to suspect that Granger had been right. So far, neither of these two had acted with anything coming close to the righteous indignation she had been expecting; if anything, they had agreed readily and easily, making her job just a little more pleasant...it was never a nice thing when the person you were supposed to interrogate fought you every step of the way.

"State your full name."

"Seamus Finnegan."

"State your age in full years."

"I am seventeen years old."

"Did you know that Albus Dumbledore is using out of date Educational Decrees in order to enforce his power as Headmaster?"

"Yes...he mentioned it once to Ron; I overheard it...I don't think he wanted anyone else to hear."

"Did he every specifically state that he used them to control Slytherin House?"

"I don't know if he was talking about that, but he told me and Hermione that he had ways to control the Slytherins...ways that didn't include force."

"Does Albus Dumbledore favour any house over the others?"

"Yes, Gryffindor is his favoured house; he's given back lost points and then taken them from Slytherin. He said that, if he had his way, Gryffindor would be the only house allowed at Hogwarts."

"You participated in the attack on Harry Potter...how far in advance did you know about it?"

"About a week before; Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione all came to me to talk to me about something...Ron said that it was important."

"What did they talk to you about?"

"I don't remember; I really don't remember anything about that meeting, only that Dumbledore gave us all tea and biscuits." Amelia looked over at Kingsley and he held up one finger, indicating that only one potion was present in the boy's system. Amelia reached for the parchment; the potion listed was an extremely strong compulsion potion that would act like a liquid version of the Imperius Curse.

"What part did you play in the beating?"

"Dumbledore told me that I was to beat the hell out of Harry, but to stay away from his lower arms, hands and face; that way the bruising wouldn't show."

"Did you want to take part in the beating?" 

"No, but it was like I couldn't control myself, like someone else was making me move. If I tried to stop myself, it was painful."

Amelia motioned to Kingsley to give Finnegan the antidote; she had heard enough. As she watched the blonde get led back to his room, she wondered what kinds of revelations Ronald Weasley would have for them; she figured it couldn't get much worse than it already was.

Dumbledore was so screwed!


	28. Restraints, Wands and a Phoenix

Kingsley sighed heavily as he approached the door to Ronald Weasley's room; this one was going to be hard. He had been friends with Arthur Weasley since their time at Hogwarts; Arthur was older by two or three years, but they had still gotten along well, even being in different houses. He really didn't want to know that Arthur's son had done this without being affected by potions or spells.

He knocked on the door and waited for the Auror inside to answer. "I'm here to collect Ronald Weasley for his interview."

The Auror snorted slightly. "You're going to have fun with this one, Boss. He's been spewing off at the mouth about how Potter deserved everything he got...doesn't he know what he's here for?"

"Apparently not, Auror Phillips. I'll take him now." The younger Auror led a fuming, fighting Ronald Weasley out by a set of magical handcuffs locked behind his back. "Why is Mr. Weasley cuffed?"

"For my own protection and safety, I handcuffed Ronald Weasley. Once he took a swing at me, I wasn't about to let him try again." Kingsley looked carefully at the other man and noticed the definite bruising shadowing his left eye. "Go to the Infirmary and get that looked at. Be back here as soon as Pomfrey releases you."

"Yes Sir, at once."

Kingsley grabbed the glowing bond between the two cuffs resting around the boy's wrists, adding his magic to the restraints; like Auror Phillips, he was taking no chances that Ronald was going to try to hit him. "You're already pushing it, Weasley...do you know what you could get for assaulting an Auror?"

"I don't care...Potter deserved whatever he got!"

"Mr. Weasley, this interview is about something other than what you did to Harry Potter...didn't you read the letter you were sent?"

"Who cares?" Ron spat at the older wizard, "I sure as hell don't!"

"Obviously." Kingsley kept his mouth shut as he physically guided Ronald Weasley into the room where Amelia awaited them. 

~OOooOO~

Amelia's eyes widened as she took in the magical handcuffs restraining Ronald Weasley. "What happened that he needed to be restrained?"

"He took a swing at Auror Phillips...caught him on the side of the face."

"Is Auror Phillips okay?"

Kingsley nodded. "I sent him to Pomfrey to get the bruise looked at before bringing Mr. Weasley here. He'll be waiting back at the room by the time we're done with the interview."

"Excellent...start writing up an arrest warrant; charges are to begin with Unwarranted Physical Assault on an Auror."

"Yes, Madam Bones." Kingsley picked up a phial and stood next to Ronald; before the boy could even react, he had taken enough blood to check for spells and potions.

" _ **HEY!**_ What was that for? I didn't agree to give blood for anything!"

"We didn't need your permission, Mr. Weasley. With what we found in the last two interviews, we were well within our rights to take a small phial of blood without asking whether or not you agreed." She looked over at Kingsley, trying to judge from the man's expression what the results of the test might be. Kingsley looked up and shook his head...there were no potions or spells. Whatever Ronald Weasley had done had been done under his own power...Hermione Granger had been correct.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, you have been subpoenaed to come here for an interview during this, the Inquiry into Allegations of Misuse of Power by current Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Your mother signed a permission slip, allowing the use of Veritaserum during this interview, but, as you are already seventeen, that permission is null and void..."

"You're _**not**_ giving me Veritaserum! I refuse to take it! _**You can't make me!**_ " Ron's lips curled back from his teeth in a snarl as he leaned forward, toward Amelia; Kingsley took the opportunity to move to a spot next to, and slightly behind, the boy, so that he couldn't see him. Amelia nodded once and Kingsley placed a hand on Ron's forehead, pushing his head back; before he could close his mouth, Kingsley had dropped the dose of Veritaserum onto his tongue. Ron tried to spit out the potion, but it was no use; Veritaserum coated the tongue immediately after it was applied, making it impossible to spit out. The two watched as all of the fight went out of Ronald Weasley's body and his eyes took on a glassy look; the Veritaserum had begun to work.

Amelia took a slow, deep breath and released it just as slowly, before beginning her questions. "State your full name."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley."

"State your age in full years."

"I am seventeen years old."

"Did you know that Albus Dumbledore is using out of date Educational Decrees in order to enforce his power as Headmaster?"

"Yeah, I knew."

"Did he tell you personally?"

"Yeah...he said that the Slytherins needed to be controlled, because they were all dark."

"So, he specifically stated that he was using them to control Slytherin House?"

"Yeah, he said that he wasn't allowed to torture them, so he had to get them to obey some other way." Kingsley's eyes widened and he looked at Amelia; her facial expression looked as though a dark cloud was hovering over her.

"Does Albus Dumbledore favour any house over the others?"

"Of course he does...Gryffindor was his house when he went to Hogwarts, so he favours that one. Slytherin House shouldn't exist, he said."

Amelia was getting the same answers to her questions as she had received from everyone else, so she decided to try a new tack, based on the information she had gotten from Granger and Finnegan. "How long had you been pretending to be Harry Potter's friend?"

"Since before we started our first year. Professor Dumbledore came to the Burrow and asked to speak with me and Mum alone. He told me that Harry Potter was coming to Hogwarts that year and he needed me to befriend 'The Boy Who Lived'."

"Why would he do that?"

"He said that Harry would need someone totally loyal to the Light to be his friend and guide him, so that Dumbledore would be the one that Harry looked up to and followed."

"When did Albus Dumbledore come to speak to you about beating Mr. Potter?"

"He mentioned it about half-way through the term, after the Christmas holiday, and said that it needed to happen right before we got sent home for the summer."

"Did you know that he had given Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan compulsion potions and had cast compulsion spells on Miss Granger?"

"Yeah, I was there for most of them. She got Obliviated a couple of times when she started to break through the potions and spells; he didn't want her to warn Potter about the attack."

"Why did you agree to it?" This was the one thing that Amelia wanted to know most of all; Granger had said that Weasley was jealous of Harry Potter because of his fame and money...Amelia knew that there had to be an underlying reason for him agreeing to this kind of act.

"He kept all the fame to himself...he didn't share it. Everyone always flocked to him, 'The Boy Who Lived'; I was his best friend, why didn't I get some of the fame?"

"Have you always been this jealous of Harry Potter?"

"No, it only started after I saw what he had hidden away in that vault of his. He has all this money, all this gold, and my family has to struggle to make it...why should he have all of that and we have nothing? It's not fair."

"Mr. Weasley, have you ever been told that life isn't fair?" Amelia looked up when she saw Kingsley move away; the man was shaking so badly that he'd had to get away from the boy causing his anger.

"Yeah, but it's still not fair. Why should he have everything? Why should he get all of that when we don't have it?" The monotone recitation of these questions struck Amelia as being disgusting; the boy truly believed that Harry Potter had wanted all of that.

"What do you know about what Albus Dumbledore has done to members of Slytherin House for detentions held with him?" She had to get back on track with her questioning before the Veritaserum began to wear off.

"He let me watch sometimes, said it would do me good to know how to handle scum like that." Amelia began to feel sick; Albus Dumbledore had exposed a child to the darker side of his nature, twisting the boy's impressions of the wizarding world.

"Did you ever help him?"

"No, he wouldn't let me; said that he couldn't risk things being traced to my wand. He did something to his, so that what he did wouldn't register at the Ministry." Kingsley walked over to the door and cast a spell, sending his patronus to Alastor Moody; he wanted that wand.

As the questioning continued, the two adults gained a little insight into the workings of Albus Dumbledore's mind; he had warped Ronald Weasley into his little pawn, another chess piece on the chessboard that Albus had created. At a quiet knock on the door, Kingsley stepped out of the room for a moment to speak with Moody.

"I need you to get Albus Dumbledore's wands; I don't want just one, the man probably has several. Bring them back here and you'll stand outside, protecting the door." Kingsley caught and held the former Auror's gaze. "Use whatever means necessary...I'm reinstating you as a full Auror for the purposes of this investigation. Go on, Auror Moody."

Moody grinned at Kingsley and nodded once...he knew what 'use whatever means necessary' meant. This was going to be good! 

~OOooOO~

Alastor quietly ascended the stairs to the Headmaster's office after immobilising them; he didn't want the sound of stone grating on stone to alert the old man that he was coming. (You may wonder how he was able to silence that peg-leg of his...silencing spells work wonderfully!) He cast a complicated spell on the door, allowing him to see and hear everything that happened on the other side of the door, without giving away his presence. He watched as Albus Dumbledore packed things into trunks and boxes scattered about the room...the old goat was trying to escape! He began to listen to what the Headmaster was muttering under his breath; the great thing about the spell that he had used was that it cast a selective _Sonorus_ on any human in the room.

"Should have known it would end up like this...all of my plotting for nothing...Potter couldn't behave like a proper little soldier and do everything he was supposed to...No! The brat just had to go and strike out on his own"

Alastor heard the phoenix that Albus kept making some very disappointed trilling noises; apparently the bird didn't agree with what the old goat was saying.

"Be quiet Fawkes...I didn't ask your opinion about this." Dumbledore turned to fire a stinging hex at the flame-coloured bird, shocking Alastor beyond words; the hex missed the bird, but only because he had disappeared into a ball of flame, causing the hex to hit the wall behind his perch harmlessly. "Damn you, Fawkes! Where the hell did you go? I need you to take me out of here before anyone comes up here looking for me. Blasted bird!"

Alastor had heard enough; he threw open the door to the office and fired several stunning spells in rapid succession at the Headmaster.


	29. Goblins, Tests and Purges

Bill and Harry met Arthur in a rented room at the Three Broomsticks with the understanding that they couldn't ask him anything about the investigation. As they sat in the room, waiting for Arthur and the goblins, they tried to guess what was going to come of the testing to be done.

"Do you really think that your mum has been giving him potions the entire time they've been married?" Harry was extremely concerned about what that many years of potions could have done to Arthur.

"Honestly Harry...I hope not, but I have the feeling that she has. There have been times over the years where Dad fought with Mum about something, only to give in after she'd fixed him a cup of tea; Charlie and I thought it was strange, but their relationship has always been strange. Mum got pregnant with Ron and Ginny after two of those arguments...I wonder if she also took fertility potions."

"That would explain a lot, you know. Lucius told me that most wizarding families only have one or two children; your parents had seven...that just seems a little odd, if you ask me."

"Yeah, there's a reason most families don't have many children; the magic won't spread to cover all of them equally. The first-born child is always the most magically powerful; the second is close, but not as strong; the rest fall in there somewhere...but the more you have, the less magic there is to go around."

"Well, there goes my hopes of beating your family on number of children!" Harry giggled slightly and broke into full laughter at the stunned look on Bill's face. "I was joking! I think one or two is just fine...really!" He laughed again once Bill realised that he truly was joking and looked relieved; not that he didn't want more children after this first one, but he didn't think he was prepared to have his own Quidditch team.

Three goblins silently popped into the room, startling them; less than a minute later, Arthur walked into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. "Bill, Harry...thank you for being here for me." Arthur was pale and shaky looking; Bill stood and wrapped his arms around his father, trying to give comfort as he could.

"Mr. Weasley, I am sure that you wish to get this over and done with, so, if you could step over here, we will get started." One of the goblins gestured to Arthur and drew their attention to the table they had set up. There were several bowls on the table, along with parchment, phials containing unknown liquids, at least three different knives and two stacks of papers that were at least a foot high each; Bill knew that the piles of parchment were the records of his father's transactions at Gringotts. The goblins would go over the transactions with Arthur and use a goblin form of Legilimency to make sure that the records were all sound; if Arthur proved to have been under the influence of love potions, all of the transactions would have to be gone over and some voided out...especially the ones made by Molly.

Harry watched carefully as the goblins got Arthur settled and began the testing. One of the goblins poured a potion into one of the bowls and asked Arthur to hold his hand over it; he (she/it?) pricked one of Arthur's fingers and allowed three drops of blood to fall into the bowl. The potion turned a horrid shade of reddish-black and the goblin nodded silently; he then poured the potion over one of the pieces of parchment that had been placed on the table. They all watched with trepidation as spidery writing began to form on the parchment; the writing continued, making the parchment grow as it kept appearing. Bill looked at the first goblin and arched an eyebrow in inquiry; the goblin met his eyes and nodded once...there were definitely love and lust potions present in Arthur's system. The parchment kept right on growing in length; at this point, they all knew that they were looking at several decades worth of love potions.

The second goblin picked up another phial and poured it into a different bowl; getting Arthur to repeat his actions, the goblin took seven drops of blood this time. The next piece of parchment was placed into the bowl, allowing the potion to saturate it; words began to form on the parchment, under the potion. There wasn't as much writing on this parchment, but there was still plenty of it; Bill, who seemed to know what each potion did, looked at the second goblin; their eyes met and, like the first, he nodded once...this test was for compulsion potions.

The third goblin had Arthur hold his other hand over another bowl; the goblin muttered a few words and a blackish fluid began to ooze from Arthur's fingertips into the bowl. After a moment of this, the goblin muttered a few more words and the oozing stopped. He slid yet another piece of parchment into the foul-looking liquid and said some more words; the liquid burst into flame, startling the three wizards, and burned for a moment before dying off and leaving the parchment in the bowl. Bill had no idea what this test was for, so he watched closely as words began to form on this paper as well; the goblin shook it's head and looked to the first. They had a quiet conversation in Gobbledegook; Bill, who knew some of the language, listened and kind of got an understanding of what the test had been...it was for forms of the Imperius Curse. His jaw dropped when he realised that his father had been placed under several different forms of the Imperius Curse at various points over his life...beginning right after he started dating Molly Prewett. Most of them weren't illegal, just highly frowned upon; they didn't make the recipient follow orders, they just made them more open to strong suggestion.

Without saying a word, the first goblin conjured a large oval bathtub, complete with water; Arthur, Harry and Bill watched as the other two poured in the contents of the rest of the phials that had been sitting on the table while the first chanted something and waved his hand over the water. The water turned a milky blue-white colour before settling into a solid white; it looked as if the tub was filled with milk. The second and third goblin guided Arthur over to the tub and quickly divested him of all of his clothing; Bill turned away, not wanting to see that much of his father, but Harry watched what the other goblin was doing, ignoring Arthur's nudity...he was still chanting over the water as the other goblins lifted Arthur and placed him into the water. The third goblin walked over to where they stood and guided them to kneel next to the tub.

"Your father will need the support of both your magicks right now. I know you are pregnant, Mr. Potter; be assured that this will do nothing to harm your child. In fact, as the baby is Arthur Weasley's grandchild, the magic you contribute will be doubled because your baby is blood related to the victim." The goblin looked at Bill. "We call people in this situation a 'victim' because they are; your father has been victimised for most of his life by that woman. You do realise, do you not, that your mother will be arrested for this and will, most likely, spend the rest of her natural life in Azkaban?"

Bill nodded and swallowed back tears; he had known that, if she had given Arthur potions, she would be arrested and convicted of her crimes. The goblins were almost a law unto themselves, but, in cases like this, they enjoyed seeing users of love potions locked away in the wizarding prison; the Dementors were horrible to be around...Molly Weasley would likely be insane before the first year was over.

The goblin instructed Harry and Bill to each take one of Arthur's hands and to submerge it in the liquid; the second goblin ordered Arthur to take a deep breath and hold it as he pushed the wizard under the surface of the liquid. He held Arthur down for five seconds and then pulled him up; asking Arthur to take another breath, he repeated the process. They did this four more times; once the sixth dunking was complete, the first goblin changed the chant.

Bill and Harry could feel their magic flow through their hands and into Arthur; the liquid in the tub began to bubble and darken. As they watched, stunned, the liquid turned dark blue, then black, then back to dark blue and, eventually, back to the milky blue-white colour.

The third goblin began to speak again. "This process purifies the body and blood of a witch or wizard that has had love and lust potions and compulsion potions given to them; it also purges the body of the compulsion spells cast on them. The different colours showed just what was being removed, in order from the most to the least; the first dark blue colour was for the love and lust potions, the black colour was for the compulsion spells and the second dark blue colour was for the compulsion potions. Normally, the water would return to the completely white colour it had been right before we started, but because of the amount of love and lust potions in Mr. Weasley's body, the water retained a little of the bluish colour from the purge. Once Granok finishes the chant, the ritual will be complete and your father will no longer be under the effects of any of the potions he had been given or the spells that were cast on him. William Weasley, please be prepared for your father to take a little while to become accustomed to the feeling of his own body again; we do not recommend that he be left alone. Do you have a house you can take him to...one where he will have no contact with his soon-to-be-former wife?"

"Yes, we will take him back to where we are living...but what about the Board of Inquiry? Doesn't he have to return to the school for that?"

"No, Granok will meet with Madame Bones and Head Auror Shacklebolt to explain the situation to them. They cannot expect him to function like he had been for at least another week; after that, if he is feeling up to it, he may return to the inquiry...but not before a week has passed. We trust that you will allow him to rest and recuperate from this."

"Of course." Bill looked down at his father; Arthur's eyes were closed and it looked like he was sleeping, but Bill now knew differently. The purge would have taken quite a bit out of him and he was probably unconscious. He had hoped that they were wrong, that Molly hadn't used any potions or spells on him, but obviously, she had; he watched as the third goblin walked to the door and opened it to admit an Auror. They had apparently contacted the Aurors before they arrived at the Three Broomsticks, expecting this kind of result. The Auror nodded and entered the room to speak with Bill.

"Mr. Weasley? As your father's next of kin, I need to let you know exactly what's going to happen here. We, meaning myself and at least two more Aurors, will be going to Molly Weasley's residence to arrest her. I hope it will be a relatively easy arrest, but usually, in cases concerning love potions, it is not. Please be prepared to read about the arrest in tomorrow's Daily Prophet."

Bill nodded silently; he didn't know what to say to someone who had just told him that his mother was going to be arrested and would probably fight the Aurors. The goblins told him that he and Harry could release his father's hands now, as they were going to take him out of the tub; the Auror left the room, giving them their privacy. As soon as they let go of Arthur's hands, Harry was around to Bill's side of the tub, holding him tightly in his arms; Bill needed this right now, needed the support from his partner, needed the love he could feel coursing through their...bond? Bill filed that thought away for later inspection; right now he just held tightly to Harry and sobbed into his shoulder.

He vaguely heard Harry making plans with the goblins to have them come to The Lion's Den, so that they could go over the accounts with Arthur; Bill hoped they would give him at least a day to get somewhat accustomed to being who he really was before inundating him with paperwork. 

~OOooOO~

Amelia had just wrapped up her interview with Ronald Weasley and she couldn't wait to get back to her rooms; she honestly felt like she was going to vomit. Some of the things that the boy had said, some of the things he had seen! How had he remained even remotely stable during the time he attended Hogwarts was completely beyond her; then again, she wasn't sure that he had remained stable...after all...hadn't he beaten the living shit out of his supposed best friend?

Kingsley re-entered the room after escorting Mr. Weasley back to his room; the Aurors would now be leaving to return Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan to their homes. Ronald Weasley would be going to a holding cell in the Ministry building, pending his hearing for Assault on an Auror; Kingsley hated that something like that had to happen to the son of one of his friends, but unfortunately, it had. He knew that Arthur had had his meeting with the goblins today and he was curious as to how it had gone. He turned back around, after shutting and locking the door, to find Amelia standing with a Gringotts goblin.

"Amelia? Is something wrong with Arthur?"

"Yes...he's going to be unavailable for at least a week. This is Granok, one of the senior agents at Gringotts; his speciality is potions and curse removal. Granok, could you please tell Head Auror Shacklebolt what your tests found out about Arthur Weasley?"

"Of course, Madame Bones. Auror Shacklebolt, the tests we performed on Arthur Weasley showed that he had consumed no less than 350 individual love potions, no less than 10 lust potions, no less than 145 compulsion potions and had no less than 200 compulsion spells cast on him. Molly Weasley had basically been controlling all of his actions since before he left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1968; this has continued for his entire adult life. He went through the Ministry approved purges and will need approximately one week to become accustomed to who he truly is. He may be prone to outbursts of temper and periods of intense sadness, to the point of tears, as his natural personality begins to reassert itself. Gringotts recommends that he does not rejoin the Board of Inquiry; we do not feel that it would be in either his best interest or that of the Board itself."

Kingsley almost felt like he couldn't breathe; one of his friends had been manipulated for over half of his life...by his own wife. "Do you think he would have married Molly if she hadn't been giving him the potions?"

"In my honest opinion...no, he would not have married her. He began receiving the potions before he turned seventeen, so that would indicate that something had not gone according to Molly Prewett's plans. At this point, he may not even remember what his personality was like before the potions, so it may take quite some time before he is acclimated to who he truly is." The goblin looked at Amelia. "If there are no further questions, Madame Bones, I need to get back to Gringotts to make my report and coordinate that with what the Aurors will need. They have already gone to arrest Molly Weasley; Auror Thompson feels that it will not be an easy arrest, so this may make the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow. If it does, I will personally send you a copy, so that you are made aware of what is said." The goblin bowed to Amelia and then to Kingsley before popping out of the room, completely bypassing the lock down wards on the castle.

Amelia sank down onto a chair and motioned to Kingsley to sit as well. "What the hell do we do about this, Kingsley?"

"Nothing...there's nothing we can do. According to the rules for a Board of Inquiry, if one member becomes ill, that member will leave and the Board will continue on its mission. You cannot replace Arthur."

Amelia nodded in agreement; she knew the rules, she had read that particular one out loud when the Board had arrived at the school. Inasmuch as she wanted to replace Arthur, she knew she couldn't.


	30. Dumbledore Goes Down, Keeping Their Noses Clean and Disowning?

As Kingsley and Amelia sat mulling over the situation, both of them highly affected by the news the goblin had given them, a bright flash of silvery light burst into the room; Kingsley's eyes followed the silver raven as it flew once around the room and then settled onto the table in front of them. Kingsley knew it was Alastor's patronus and he was very eager to hear what the older Auror had discovered; Amelia had a feeling of foreboding...she knew that ravens were thought to be omens of ill fortune.

Alastor's misty voice sounded throughout the room, managing to sound firm and gravelly even in its almost whispered state. "Kingsley...I need you...Dumbledore is down."

Kingsley shot out of his seat and ran through the castle to the Headmaster's office. 

~OOooOO~

The sight that greeted Kingsley's eyes was anything but what he had expected to see; Dumbledore lay on the floor of the office, clearly stunned, but also bound and gagged...literally. Alastor had chosen to use muggle ropes and a strange looking device that consisted of a ball that fit into Dumbledore's mouth with ties that anchored at the back of his head; when questioned about the odd device, Alastor blushed bright red and told Kingsley that he was better off not knowing.

Kingsley stared at the older man for a moment, shocked by the blush that covered the man's features; he hadn't known that Alastor was capable of blushing. He carefully circled Dumbledore's prone body and moved to the desk to look at the assortment of wands, knives and portkeys laid out on its surface; there were five wands, one of which had Sirius Black's signature on it, three knives, including an extremely dangerous looking one with a wavy blade, and no less than ten different portkeys, all set to go to different places.

"Each item was secreted in a different pocket, either in his robes or in the muggle suit he has on underneath them. He was obviously planning on escaping from the school before we could stop him; I think he had planned to use his phoenix for his escape, but the bird disappeared when he tried to hex it."

"He tried to hex Fawkes?! Why the hell would he do that?"

"The bird apparently wasn't happy with what Dumbledore had done to Potter, and was letting him know. Do you think that the sugar is out of his system by now?"

"It should be, depending upon how much was there to begin with. We can always give him a potion to purge the rest of the sugar, if it's not gone."

Alastor nodded slowly. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Use the  _ Obsepire _ cuffs on him, so that he can't access his magic and keep him in a room that has magic dampening spells on it. Without the ability to use his magic, he becomes just another old man."

"Who's going to question him?"

"Both Amelia and I are going to question him. We have a particular set of questions reserved strictly for him."

Alastor nodded again before grinning evilly. Kingsley shuddered; he didn't want to ever see _**that**_ again!  

~OOooOO~

  

_**MOLLY PREWETT WEASLEY ARRESTED** _

_**A Tale of Love Potions Gone Wrong** _

 

_By Philip Rowling-Skeeter_

 

_At approximately 3:15 yesterday afternoon, Molly Weasley, nee Prewett, was arrested at her home in Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon. The charges ranged anywhere from illegal production and use of love potions to illegal use of compulsion spells and attacking the arresting Aurors. According to the arresting Aurors, Gringotts goblins had performed tests on Mrs. Weasley's husband Arthur, providing proof to the Aurors that Mrs. Weasley had been dosing her husband up with love, lust and compulsion potions since before they left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1968._

_Mrs. Weasley was arrested by Aurors Giles Thompson and Robert Smythe-Jones, with Assistant Head Auror Gawain Robards present as backup, should Mrs. Weasley prove to be difficult to arrest. This was wonderful forward thinking by our Aurors as Mrs. Weasley proved to be very difficult to detain. According to a statement, given after the arrest by the Assistant Head Auror, Molly Weasley threatened the lives of the arresting Aurors by casting borderline dark curses and hexes at them, trying to keep them away from her. Auror Thompson was hit by a bone crushing hex to the left arm, fortunately not his wand arm, and Auror Smythe-Jones was hit by the Sectumsempra curse, but fortunately it did little damage as the Aurors were protected by full-body protective shields. Mrs. Weasley had also cast the blasting curse (Confrigo) and the Total Body Bind, but those spells missed the Aurors. Assistant Head Auror Robards was finally able to subdue Mrs. Weasley after Auror Thompson disarmed her._

_Mrs. Weasley has been remanded to Azkaban to await trial; there will be two separate trials...one for the potions and one for the attacks on the Aurors. When this reporter tried to make contact with any member of the Weasley family, none were available for comment. At this time, Arthur Weasley is on a leave of absence from his job at the Ministry of Magic, where he holds the position of the Head of the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts._

 

Bill read the article and then handed the paper to Harry; he hadn't thought about how to tell Charlie about this. He was fairly certain that, by this time, Charlie had noticed that their father wasn't with the Board of Inquiry anymore; the only problem was that he had no way to contact him. He hoped Amelia was taking care of it. 

~OOooOO~

"Charlie, I asked you to come here before breakfast so that I could inform you about your father's testing. You did know it was going to happen, correct?" Amelia looked at the younger man and watched as all colour left his face.

"Yeah, I knew...what's wrong? What happened?"

"The goblins detected a large number of love potions, compulsion potions and compulsion spells in your father's body. According to their tests, your mother had been giving him the potions since before he turned seventeen; I don't know when the compulsion spells started, but it's fairly safe to say, due to the number of them, they started not too long afterwards."

"Bloody Hell! Is Dad alright? Is he here?"

"No, your brother and Harry Potter took him back to wherever they are living, so that he could recuperate in peace. I have excused him from the Board, so he will not be coming back. I now give you a choice; you may go be with him, or you may stay here and complete the investigation."

Charlie had to put some really hard thought into that choice; on one hand, he wanted to stay and finish the investigation, but on the other, he wanted to go be with his father. "May I speak with Bill before I make my choice? I know he can't come here, but can I fire-call him?"

Amelia nodded and walked over to the hearth; throwing in a little powder, she called out the eldest Weasley's name. "William Weasley." She didn't know where they were living, so she couldn't say that; it might take a little longer to find him, but eventually they would. After a moment's wait, the fire flared a brighter green and Bill's head appeared in the flames.

"Amelia...is everything alright?"

"Yes, Charlie wanted to speak with you. I gave him a choice of staying here or joining you, wherever you are." She moved aside so that Charlie could take her place.

"Bill! Is Dad alright? What happened?"

"Calm down, Charlie. Dad's fine...Harry's up there having breakfast with him right now. He's going to have some difficulties with his personality, just until he gets used to having it back after so many years of being forced to do what Mum wanted; but he's going to be fine. You might as well stay there to finish the investigation. You know Dad would want you to."

Charlie nodded and turned to Amelia. "Can I send letters out, or is that also on lock down?"

"For this instance, I will make another exception. You may send letters to your father, but to no one else; I will require that you allow either me or Kingsley to read them prior to sending them out, but you may send letters."

"Alright, I'm going to stay." He turned back to his brother's floating head. "Tell Dad that I'm going to stay here and finish this up, but I'll be sending him letters."

"Alright, I'll do that."

"Give Dad my love."

"I will, Charlie." Bill withdrew from the flames, ending the fire-call. "Do you have a copy of the report made by the goblins?"

Amelia smiled at the younger man and handed him a piece of parchment. "I thought you might want it, so I took the liberty of making a copy for you. Go on, now...go tell Lucius and Remus about it. Oh, you might also want to tell the younger blond the same thing; he's been hanging around looking for you." Amelia laughed at the bright red flush that immediately covered Charlie's face. "I truly hope you have his father's permission to date him; otherwise you're going to be in for a world of trouble when Lucius finds out."

"He knows...he already gave us his blessing." Charlie grinned at the older witch and blew her a kiss before darting out of the classroom.

"Children!" she huffed in amusement. "Oh my...now, won't that couple make some beautiful babies!" 

~OOooOO~

George Weasley was never one to take anything seriously; of the Weasley twins, he was, by far, the more mischievous of the two. Not that Fred Weasley wasn't mischievous, but he had the business mind that George lacked; it was obvious who ran the twins' store and who was the primary mind behind the jokes and pranks...that is, if you could tell them apart. Fred knew that something was very wrong that morning, when he came down the stairs into the kitchen area of their flat to find George sitting at the table staring blankly at that morning's _Daily Prophet_.

"What's wrong Georgie-boy?" For an answer, George pushed the paper across the table to him. As he read the article about their mother's arrest, Fred could feel his expression darken; Bill had warned them that this might happen, but they honestly hadn't thought that it could be true. "Well, what do we do?"

George sighed heavily. "We need to distance ourselves from her...make sure that we pull any products that might be construed as love potions from the shelves and make sure that we have prominent signs up, stating that if anyone has questions about any of the ingredients, they should ask either you or me." He looked up at his twin with a grim expression. "We need to keep our noses clean."

Fred stood from his chair and walked over to get a cup of tea. "Let's go down and start pulling the pranks that might be thought harmful. We can also send the more suspect jokes and pranks to the Aurors to get their approval to sell them; you know, get a statement from the DMLE that none of our products contains love, lust or compulsion potions. Get Lee over here to help."

The two pranksters walked slowly down the stairs to their shop; neither one was looking forward to what this day was going to bring. As it turns out, they shouldn't have worried; oh, it was a good thing that they had already pulled the most likely products off of the shelves, but they were inundated with people who were more concerned about their father's well-being than with what was in their jokes and pranks. Fred had thought about closing the store for the day, but, when they contacted Bill, he, Arthur and Harry had all told them that they weren't to do that.

"Boys, that store is your livelihood; you're not to close for the day because of me. I'm fine; I'm here with Bill and Harry, so I'm not alone. I've got to take some time to let my natural personality come back."

"Did the goblins say how long that might take?"

"They said at least a week, but it will probably take longer, in my case, because of the length of time I've been under the influence of the potions. The goblins are coming over here on Thursday to go over my accounts with me, so that we can find out if there were transactions made that shouldn't have been."

Fred and George nodded in agreement; they could see the business sense in that. Hopefully their family wouldn't be so poor after the goblins went over everything. 

~OOooOO~

The only mail that was allowed into Hogwarts during the lock down was copies of The Daily Prophet; from the large flock of owls that arrived each morning, the parents of most of the students had ordered subscriptions for their children, so that they wouldn't be completely out of contact with the outside world. Molly Weasley had purchased a subscription for her daughter when the school went on lock down; she had tried to get the subscriptions department of the paper to agree to smuggle notes into the school in Ginny's paper, but they had immediately refused...they didn't want to get cited by the DMLE for trying to circumvent the Hogwarts Board of Inquiry.

Ginny sat alone at one end of the Gryffindor table; she was being shunned by most of the Gryffindors because her brother was the one who had started the whole mess with Harry Potter...which, in turn, caused the article in the paper...which, in turn, caused the Board of Inquiry lock down. In everyone's eyes, Ron had directly caused them to basically be held prisoner inside the school for something that none of them had done; Ginny was beginning to agree with them. She hadn't done anything other than ignore Harry during his last year at Hogwarts, yet she was being punished, along with the other students, for Ron, Hermione and Seamus' actions. She was beginning to wonder why she had followed blindly along after Ron and Hermione; Harry hadn't done anything to her. Yes, she had treated him poorly, but she hadn't done the physical harm that the other three had; she knew she didn't deserve for Harry to forgive her, but she hoped that, one day, he might.

Ginny looked up as the flock of owls delivering the paper flew in through the high windows and began to systematically drop newspapers on the tables; the Slytherin table was first, as they were closest to the windows that the owls came through. Ravenclaw was next, followed by Hufflepuff and, finally, Gryffindor; by the time Ginny's paper reached her, the entire Great Hall was in an uproar.

Opening her paper to the front page, Ginny almost choked on the piece of bacon she had just tried to swallow. She quickly read the story and calmly folded the paper back up and left it beside her half-full plate; she walked up to the head table and waited for Professor McGonagall to acknowledge her presence.

"Yes, Miss Weasley? How can I help you?"

Speaking loudly enough so that the closest students could hear her, Ginevra Weasley made her request of Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.

"Professor...how does one go about disowning themselves from their mother but not their father?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now...doesn't the mental image you have of Albus Dumbledore with a ball gag just make you want to Scourgify your brain? Or is it worse that Alastor Moody was the one to put it on him? Let me know!


	31. Relations and Relations?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to WyrdSmith, who gave me the inspiration to introduce Great-Aunt Muriel Prewett to this story...Thank You!

A very wrinkly, old hand grasped the offending newspaper, printed several days ago, in an iron grip, crushing it beyond repair; thin, aged lips pursed angrily and then parted.

_**"MITZY!"** _

A very quiet pop sounded to the left of the person with the newspaper. "Yes, Mistress? You called Mitzy?" The elf's voice was quiet and relaxing to the elderly woman, who sat back in her chair.

"I need you to find my great-niece's husband and take me to him." She paused for a moment. "You might as well ask permission from the owner of the house he's staying at; chances are I can't get to him without the wards allowing it. I want to know where he's staying, with whom he's staying and if any of his children are there. Now, girl!" The elf popped out of the room immediately, knowing better than to argue with her mistress.

~O~

Harry was startled by the appearance of a strange house elf by his side; he wasn't expecting anyone to contact him...mainly because very few people actually knew where he was. "May I help you?"

"Mitzy's mistress asked if she could have permission to come see Arthur Weasley."

Harry looked up at both Arthur and Bill; neither one of them seemed to recognise the well-spoken house elf. "Who is your mistress, Mitzy?"

"Mitzy's mistress is Muriel Prewett, great-aunt to Molly Prewett Weasley."

Arthur's eyes closed and he sighed heavily; he had known that this meeting was coming, but he had hoped it would be later...much later. "You might as well give your permission, Harry. Muriel won't take no for an answer...she'll hunt me down, if she has to."

Harry looked at Bill for confirmation before turning back to the elf. "Tell your mistress that Harry James Potter welcomes Muriel Prewett into his home."

The elf nodded and turned to Arthur. "Mr. Weasley, sir, Mitzy's mistress wants to know if any of your children are here."

"Yes, Mitzy, you may tell Aunt Muriel that my oldest son is here with me." The elf nodded again and left the room with a quiet pop.

"I've never heard a house elf speak that clearly or properly." Harry was almost shocked at the proper English that the elf had used.

"Aunt Muriel is the the Matriarch of the Prewett Family; she's not likely to allow someone in her household to speak less than perfectly...well, as perfectly as a house elf can speak. She's about as iron-willed and iron-fisted as they come. I'm not looking forward to this."

Their thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a small, wrinkled old woman; Bill leapt out of his chair and solicitously ushered Muriel Prewett to sit in the chair he had just vacated. They all watched as the elderly woman arranged her long skirts around her feet; Harry was positive that she was stalling for time, trying to think of something to say to Arthur.

"Arthur?"

"Yes, Aunt Muriel?"

"I want you to know, right away, that I do not hold you responsible for that woman's actions. She has deeply shamed both the Weasley and Prewett names. What do you want done?"

Arthur stared at the older woman for a moment before trying to gather his wits to him. "Aunt Muriel, what would _**you**_ like me to do?" Arthur knew that, while he was head of the Weasley family, this woman outranked him in both age and social standing.

Harry had to fight down a shiver of revulsion as the old woman smirked; it wasn't a pleasant expression on her face. "Are you asking me to tell you what to do? I would have thought that the goblins would have purged you of the potions by now."

"They did, Aunt Muriel, but it's going to take some time before my personality really begins to reassert itself; I've spent the better portion of thirty years under the influence of love and compulsion potions and compulsion spells." Arthur leaned his head wearily against the arm of the sofa he was lying on. "Right now, Bill is making most of my decisions for me because I, literally, cannot trust myself to do it."

Muriel nodded and turned to her eldest great-great nephew. "William, what I think needs to happen is a dissolution of your father's bond to _**that woman**_." Muriel spat out the last two words; she was beyond disgusted with her great-niece. "Once the bond is dissolved, I will be disowning her from the Prewett family; she does not deserve to carry our name. Of course, this must be made public; we must stand together as one family against those that would tarnish our standing. This includes you, Arthur; you may be currently incapacitated, but, once you are you again, I will be placing my trust in you to become head of the Weasley and Prewett families." When Arthur looked set to protest, Muriel raised her hand. "Arthur, I am an old woman...I do not pretend to be anything other than that. Your children are my heirs. As William is your eldest, he will, of course, remain your heir; I would like one of the other boys to take on the Prewett name, so that I may know that our name and family will not die. _**That woman**_ had promised me that either Charles or Percy would be taking my name as soon as they came of age; we all know that did not happen. Which of them do you think would be best to speak to about this?"

Arthur looked pensive for a moment before speaking. "I think, depending upon what you would want your heir to do, Percy might be best for the position. Granted, he is not speaking with us at the moment, but I'm sure that he'll make time to speak with you. Charlie is not cut out to be the head of a family; both Bill and Percy are more likely to be better at it than any of the other boys."

"Speaking of the other boys...what is this I read about Ronald beating someone until they almost died?"

Harry stiffened in his chair and tried to look anywhere but at the elderly woman; he felt like she could see directly into his soul and his mind...he didn't want her to know it was him. He knew it was a hopeless wish, because she wasn't going to give up; he sank back into his chair and waited for Great-Aunt Muriel Prewett to look at him and pronounce him weak and a disgrace to the Potter name.

Muriel Prewett had not reached the grand age of one hundred and twenty by accident; she was a cunning and intelligent woman. Of course she knew that the victim of Ronald's anger was the young man sitting across from her; his reaction to her question alone gave her the answer. She watched as William crossed to kneel beside the younger man; his actions and the gentle hand he placed on the young man's belly gave her hope that he was helping this young one recover from his trauma. William was, by far, her favourite out of the Weasley children; he looked to be shaping up into a fine young man. She continued to watch as William rubbed circles on the young man's belly; his actions confused her until she caught just a snippet of their conversation.

"...say anything about the baby. Harry, Love, this is my great-aunt; I'm not going to hide anything from her. If she asks, I'll tell her, but you don't have to say anything."

"You don't think she's going to say I don't deserve to carry on the Potter name? I mean, I let Ron and Seamus beat the hell out of me...how strong can I be?"

"Harry..." William's voice dropped down in volume again and Muriel could no longer hear what he said. She gestured imperiously to Arthur; he slowly rose from his seat on the sofa and carefully made his way to the chair she conjured next to hers.

"Arthur...is the boy pregnant?"

Arthur sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, Aunt Muriel, Harry is pregnant."

"Please tell me it's William's child." Just the thought that Ronald might have raped such a nice young man made the elderly woman's blood pressure rise.

"Yes, the baby is Bill's. They haven't bonded yet, but they are definitely in love with each other."

"The boy is Harry Potter, is he not?"

"Yes, that is Harry Potter. He's the boy that Ron injured so badly that he almost died."

"I will be removing Ronald from the family tree, along with his mother; I no longer want them on there. What of Frederick and George?"

"They have their own shop in Diagon Alley, selling pranks and jokes. From all accounts, they are doing a fantastic job with it."

Muriel nodded; the twins were much like Fabian and Gideon had been, pranksters to the core. "I am pleased that they've taken their talents and opened their own business. I will speak with Percy about becoming my heir and taking the Prewett name. If the gossip I have heard from several people is correct, Charles will most likely end up taking the Malfoy name eventually. I am also pleased with that match; it will be good for him to get away from the...whatever it is he takes care of in China."

Arthur chuckled lightly; he knew very well that Muriel knew exactly what Charlie did, and where, but she wanted confirmation. "Charlie worked with dragons in Romania; he left there to come back here to be near the family after Harry defeated You-Know-Who."

Muriel nodded and then spoke to Bill. "William! Help me up and bring my chair closer to this young man."

Bill knew better than to argue with Aunt Muriel, so he helped her to stand and then levitated her chair to place it next to Harry's. The older woman sat and rearranged her skirts again before looking Harry straight in the eye.

"I do not hold what Ronald did against you; you did nothing to deserve that. Am I correct in thinking that you are the one that article in the _Daily Prophet_ was about?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Ma'am; the article was about me."

"So...Severus Snape is your father and James Potter was your other father? Hmm...let me see...the Potter line and the Prince line; quite good blood on both sides. You are eventually going to bond with my nephew...aren't you?" Harry, Bill and Arthur could all hear the command in the question.

Harry looked at Bill, who was staring at the elderly woman; he hadn't asked Harry to bond with him yet, but had been planning on asking this weekend. "Aunt Muriel, you've just gone and stolen my thunder." He looked at Harry and smiled. "I was planning on asking you to bond with me this weekend, but I guess now will do." He got down on one knee in front of Harry and raised his wand, summoning a small box from their room. "Harry James Potter, will you do me the honour of bonding with me, of being my husband, of making me the happiest man alive?" He opened the box to show a beautiful set of platinum bonding rings. "We can always get another set of rings if you don't like these, but these are the rings that are used when male Weasleys want to bond to another male."

"I love them, and yes...I will bond with you!" Harry dove into Bill's arms, knocking the two of them to the floor and smothering Bill's face with small kisses. Harry also raised his wand and summoned a box from their room. He held it out to show to Bill. "These are the Potter bonding rings...if you hadn't asked, I was going to."

Leaving the two young men alone for a moment, Muriel turned to Arthur. "Get your bond dissolved; I'm going to speak with Percy. Let them know that they have my blessing. Mitzy!" The small elf popped back into the room and, taking her mistress' hand, popped both of them out of the house. Arthur sat down in the chair that Muriel had just vacated and shook his head; he hadn't expected Muriel to side with him, if he wanted to be honest. He had thought that she would side with Molly; she was, after all, the woman's great-niece. Two more pops were heard in the room and Arthur turned his attention to the Gringotts goblins that had just entered; they both carried boxes containing thirty years of transactions at their bank.

Now the fun would really begin! 

~OOooOO~

Severus looked up as the door to his classroom opened; he wasn't expecting anyone, as classes had been over for almost two hours. He watched as Sirius Black walked in and closed the door behind him; Black cast locking and silencing spells on the door and the room before walking up to the desk. "May I speak with you, Severus?"

Severus tilted his head slightly and regarded the other man with curiosity before answering. "I think that you've already given yourself that answer, as you locked the door and silenced the room."

"Sorry, but I don't want anyone to hear this. Albus is in deep trouble...I want to make sure that you're not part of it."

Severus' eyes widened as he thought about several different things that could get Albus in trouble. "What has the Headmaster done?"

"I can't go into detail; the vow I took for the Board of Inquiry prevents that. I just want to know if you know anything about the Sorting Hat."

"What about it? The relic is centuries old and should be done away with."

"Why do you say that?" Sirius was trying to find out if any of the teachers knew about the meddling Albus had done with Tavin.

"It obviously has lost its original purpose, over the centuries. I was under the impression that it was supposed to sort according to strengths that it sensed in the students, but I was placed into Slytherin when I should have been placed into Ravenclaw. I had no wish to be in Slytherin House; my mother had warned me that all Slytherins were tormented and picked on by the other houses. After my lack of a childhood, I just wanted to be accepted somewhere for my bookish ways. I had to learn how to be sneaky and cunning; well, before my sorting I knew how to be _**somewhat**_ sneaky...I had to be to get away from my father."

Sirius nodded, accepting that Severus knew nothing about the tampering. "I had hoped I would hear something like that from you. I can't tell you anything yet, but you'll find out when Amelia holds your interview. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't know anything about why Albus is in trouble."

Severus' eyes now narrowed. "Why do you care what happens to me, Black? I'm just the filthy, greasy git that you and your cohorts loved to make fun of when we were students."

"I..." Sirius shook his head vehemently. "Not any more...not any more. I need to apologise to you. You may not accept, but I need to. I'm truly sorry for what we did to you, Severus. No one deserved what we did, least of all you."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Black...I gave as good as I got; none of you were entirely to blame for the enmity between us." Severus opened his eyes and realised that Black had drifted extremely close to where he sat behind his desk; he tensed, preparing for an attack...the attack that happened was not what he was expecting.

Severus watched as Sirius Black practically ran from the classroom; he had only one thought running through his mind.

_'Did Black just **kiss** me?!'_


	32. Memories, Money and Fantasies

“Dad, why would Mum do something like she did?” Bill, Harry and Arthur were sitting around the small dining table that had been moved into the library; Arthur still wasn’t up to long treks about the house and Harry wanted to make it as comfortable for him as possible.

“Well, I have an idea, but I’m still not really sure. I think that I had broken things off from her and she wasn’t too happy about it.”

“Why aren’t you sure, Arthur?”

“I seem to have a few gaps in my memories; there’s a gap during the last part of my 6th year...there’s another one right before I left Hogwarts…there’s another one that would be right before Molly and I bonded…and quite a few more after that took place.”

“You mean that Mum _Obliviated_ you? Why would she do that? What could be so bad that she would _Obliviate_ you?” Bill was extremely agitated by this point; his mother had already been proved to have done many morally reprehensible things to her husband, but why add mind magic onto that list?

“I don’t know Bill,” Arthur sighed, “I really wish I did.”

“Hold still, Dad.” Bill stood in front of his father, raised his hand and muttered a long string of strange sounding words; a bluish glow surrounded Arthur and then dissipated. Bill was waiting and caught Arthur before he fell over onto the floor; Harry joined him and sat on the floor next to Arthur.

“What did you do?”

“Reversed any _Obliviate_ that has ever been cast on him.” The expression on Bill’s face was grim; Harry didn’t think he’d ever seen that look on Bill’s face before…and he never wanted to again. "The magic I used is goblin magic; they taught me quite a few things over the years, removing _Obliviates_ is just one thing. After what we found with the bank accounts, I wasn't going to take any chances with anything else being wrong with him."

 

_ **FLASHBACK:** _

_"Mr. Weasley, I am Sharpsword, the Head of the Accounts Department at Gringotts. Griphook and I are here to go over your accounts, beginning from the time you left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We have reason to believe that there are definite issues with your vaults and the inheritance that you came into when your elder brother Bilius Weasley died."_

_"Inheritance? What inheritance?" Arthur's eyes widened and then narrowed; he had known nothing about any inheritance, but he was willing to wager that Molly had known._

_"This is why we are insisting on going over every transaction that has taken place since you left Hogwarts; before that time, even though you were of age, your father still had control of your accounts. The day you left Hogwarts as a fully trained wizard, the control of your accounts transferred to you. Since it has been proven that you were under the control of Molly Prewett since the end of your 6th year in that institution, all of your transactions are suspect."_

_Bill looked over at Sharpsword, a question in his eyes. “I thought that you did tests on anyone adding another person to their accounts?”_

“ _That only started in 1971, when Gabriella Clearwater made accusations against her husband of giving her love potions just to marry her and access her vaults; her accusations were proved correct and, since then, we have tested everyone for love and compulsion potions. Your parents were married before that time, so they were never tested.”_

_Arthur nodded, showing his understanding. “All of my decisions are being made by William Arthur Weasley, my eldest son. Please ask him questions first before getting my final approval.”_

_The goblins agreed and began going over the accounts from 1968, the year Arthur and Molly had left Hogwarts. From the very start, there were major discrepancies with the accounts; Molly had started removing money and objects from not only Arthur's vaults, but also his brother Bilius' vaults, as Arthur had access to those vaults before Bilius died in 1974 and left them to Arthur._

_Arthur stared hard at the goblins for a moment before shaking his head in exasperation. “I don't remember ever accessing those vaults, nor receiving access to them when Bilius died.”_

“ _We have a copy of a letter that was sent to you upon your brother's death; it was signed by Molly Weasley. We can only assume that she never told you that your brother had left everything he owned to you. We also can assume that you know nothing about the two houses that Bilius Weasley owned; these houses are still yours and nothing has been done to them since the year of your brother's death.”_

“ _Dear Gods! What about house elves? Have they been taken care of? Did Bilius even **have** house elves?” _

_Sharpsword nodded. “Yes, there are three house elves in each house; we have been taking an allowance for them out of your late brother's vaults, as you didn't seem inclined to take care of them yourself...now we know why. Rest assured, Mr. Weasley, that we have taken care of them at your expense.”_

“ _Thank you! I can't believe that Molly did this to me. Judging by what you now know, how much would you say she has taken?”_

“ _In the twenty-eight years of your marriage to her, Molly Prewett Weasley has taken approximately 300,000 galleons from the accounts of the late Bilius Weasley.”_

_Bill's jaw dropped slightly as he calculated the amount in his mind. “That's about 10,500 galleons a year!”_

“ _Bilius left that much? I didn't know he even **had** money...he lived with us until he died.”_

_Sharpsword sighed heavily; Bill knew that this was not a good sign of what was to come. “When your brother's will was read...”_

“ _What will? Bilius had a will?” Arthur was getting extremely agitated; Molly had denied him much over the years, but this was too much! “That **bitch** knew that Bilius had a will and she didn't tell me?” Arthur felt a large hand rubbing circles on his back trying to calm him down; arms surrounded him from his other side and he leaned weakly into Harry's shoulder. “She knew...she...”_

_Arthur Weasley broke down in sobs...not just crying, not weeping...but loud erratic sobs that pulled at the heartstrings of anyone who heard them...including the goblins._

_ **END FLASHBACK** _

 

“When Dad wakes up, he should start remembering things from before he left Hogwarts.” Bill sighed and dropped to the floor next to Harry. “We're going to have to be really strong for Dad after this. I don't know what he'll remember; chances are it won't be good.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I have the feeling I know why Dad broke things off with her during school. Over the years, he's made vague mentions of dating someone else during his sixth year at Hogwarts, but he couldn't remember her name; I thought he was being deliberately vague, but now I know that he was _Obliviated_ and _**couldn't**_ remember her name.”

“Who do you think it was?”

Bill wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him into his lap. “I don't know; like I said, he couldn't remember her name. It may be someone we know, it may be someone who was killed in the first war...I just don't know.”

Harry hugged Bill tightly and pressed a quick kiss on his lips. “We'll be here for him...he knows he has us to lean on.” Harry tilted his head slightly. “You know...if this woman is still alive, we're going to have to explain to her what happened back then.” Harry chuckled softly, gaining a curious look from Bill. “I guess we can thank Molly for something...”

“What? You've got to be joking!”

“No...if she hadn't done what she did, none of you would be here. You wouldn't be you; most likely we wouldn't have ever met.”

“But...” Bill sighed again, “...you're right. Only Molly and Dad could have created the seven of us...we wouldn't be who we are without them. I still hate what she's done to Dad, but I guess I do have to be thankful for that.”

~O~

Severus sat in the living area of his quarters late that night, swirling brandy around in a snifter, as he thought about the kiss that Black had given him. He had to admit, even if only to himself, that he had wanted to kiss Black, but would never have taken the chance, even if it had been handed to him on a platter and tied up with a bow. He tried to cling to his ages old hatred of anything to do with Black and realised that it was gone; he didn't know when it had disappeared, but it had.

His thoughts turned from Sirius Black to Harry Potter; he had no idea where his son was right now, had no idea if he was well, if he was happy, if he had ever recovered from what had happened to him. He wanted to know these things; he wanted to know all about his son. He had never made the effort to get to know Harry Potter when he'd thought he was the son of James and Lily Potter; he was regretting that decision now.

Severus set the snifter down and dragged his hands through his hair; what was he going to do about the situation? He couldn't just let things continue the way they were; now that he knew the truth, now that he knew...he couldn't let it go. He needed to contact Harry but, with the lock down, there was no way that was happening; there was no way to even get an owl out, they had all been instructed not to take any letters from anyone. They only way to get anything past the lock down was to go to Amelia Bones and plead your case; he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to send anything to Harry...he had caused all of this mess.

Alone and torturing himself with his thoughts, Severus never knew that the castle sensed his distress. The Lady Hogwarts was a sentient building, much like Ollivander's was; she knew when one of her children was in danger and she felt that, right now, Severus was a danger to himself. She decided to give him a gift.

Hearing a thud behind him, when there shouldn't have been anything in his rooms that would make that noise, Severus spun and stood up in one fluid motion, wand in hand and a curse on his lips. His eyes opened wide when he recognised the body lying on his floor...a very confused, very wet, very gorgeous...very nude Sirius Black.

~O~

The middle aged woman ran a slightly shaking hand over her tired eyes and down her face to cup her chin. She had no earthly idea what to do with the information she had been handed about Arthur Weasley; she certainly had never expected anything of this magnitude. Molly Prewett Weasley was about to be handed her arse by the Aurors and the Wizengamot; the woman wanted to be there, to see it happen, but she couldn't leave to get to the trial.

She called a house elf and asked for tea and biscuits; she would need something to get her through the next few hours, until she could retire a little early without having anyone worry about her. She wanted something stronger, but couldn't afford to be intoxicated while she was here; it wouldn't look good for her and it would raise questions as to why she was drinking...she didn't need that to get out right now.

The woman heaved a sigh as the elf popped back into the living area of her rooms and deposited the tea set on the table in front of her; thanking the elf, she sent the creature on its way, missing the concerned look it gave her. The Lady had informed all of the house elves about certain people she felt needed extra-kind treatment, and this woman was one of them. The elves had all been told that the man she had always loved had been treated badly by his wife and would need extra-kind care, too. They couldn't get to him, but they could worry with the nice woman; the elf silently popped out of the room, making plans to help the woman in its head.

The woman poured a cup of tea out of the pot and took a small sip, almost choking when she realised that the elf had poured a small measure of brandy into the pot. She settled back with a small smile on her lips, determined to enjoy what the elf had seen fit to give her; there wasn't enough alcohol to make her drunk, but there was just enough to make her sleepy.

Amelia Bones finally made her way to her bed just an hour later; it was a little earlier than she should have gone to bed, and she had missed dinner in the Great Hall, but she was relaxed and looking forward to a good night's sleep. As she drifted off, Amelia's lips lifted again as she thought about Arthur Weasley; hopefully he would divorce the bitch now that he knew what she had done. _Revenge is sweet_ , thought Amelia as memories of the smug look on Molly Prewett's face swam in front of her mind's eye. Amelia had long thought that Molly had done something to Arthur to make him break things off with her and run back to that scheming wench...ah well, she'll get hers...and soon! Her last coherent thought would have surprised her, if it hadn't been one that she had thought before.

_Maybe, now, Arthur will come back to me._

~O~

Sirius Black was confused...horribly confused. One moment he had been enjoying a leisurely wank in his shower, fantasising about Severus Snape, and the next moment he was lying on a very cold stone floor, trying to figure out where he was. He looked around, not recognising the room he was in; he turned at the sound of a slight whimper and figured out where he was. There, standing in front of a roaring fire, gaping like a landed fish was none other than the object of his shower-time fantasy...Severus Snape.

Sirius realised that he was still nude, still wet and still hard...and getting harder by the second; from the look on his face, Severus seemed to realise that as well. Almost like a sleep walker, Severus slowly walked over to where Sirius sat on the floor and extended a hand to pull him up; Sirius took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled up and into an almost desperate embrace.

As Severus' lips covered his own, Sirius let out a moan that would have made one of those muggle porn stars blush; he had been dreaming about this ever since the interview with the Daily Prophet. He wanted to take this man to bed, wanted to stake his claim on him; the castle apparently agreed, as she had brought him here. Sirius' fingers made quick work of the thousand and one buttons on Severus' robes and pushed them off of his shoulders; both of them ignored the robes as they dropped to the floor...they were more concerned with the remaining buttons on Severus' frock coat.

“Too many damn buttons!” Sirius would deny that he whined, if Severus ever called him out on it; he probably wouldn't, because, right after that, he muttered something and was suddenly as naked as Sirius was. Sirius found a spot on the pale neck in front of him and latched on; Severus' knees gave out and he pulled Sirius with him as he fell to the floor, onto the robes that were already there.

After a few moments of deep kisses and moaning for all they were worth, the two men drew back and looked each other in the eye. “Sirius, as much as I want you right here, right now, I don't think our bodies will thank us in the morning if we shag each other silly on the floor.”

Sirius let go of the nipple he was teasing with his fingers and smiled wickedly at Severus. “Lead the way, Tall Dark and Handsome, and I will follow.”

Not wasting any time, Severus grabbed Sirius' hand and literally dragged him to his bedroom. Neither of them heard the slight happy sigh coming from the wall behind them; the Lady Hogwarts was extremely pleased with her work this evening.


	33. Headmistress, SMUT and Magic

Kingsley strode into the Great Hall at dinnertime and motioned for Minerva to join him in an alcove off to the side of the Hall.  Once she had joined him, he cast several silencing spells and a strong Disillusionment spell; he wanted no one to hear what he had to say, or to be able to read his lips.

"Minerva, Hogwarts is now in your hands."  The older woman's eyebrows shot upwards and she stared at him, waiting for an explanation.  "Albus tried to leave before anyone could stop him; he was planning to use Fawkes to escape through the lock down."

Minerva's eyebrows lowered ominously as the meaning behind Kingsley's words hit home...Albus had basically admitted doing something horribly wrong.  What he had admitted to, she had no idea, but the whole scenario was not good.  "What has he done?"

"I don't have the ability to share that with you...yet.  Once Amelia makes it known that she's stripping Albus of his title, she'll be able to tell you.  All you need to be aware of, right now, is that Albus is officially being stripped of the title of Headmaster and you will be the interim Headmistress."

"I'll be able to feel when that happens."  Minerva's mind went into overdrive, thinking about all of the mistakes that Albus had made that she could now correct.

"How will you be able to feel it?"

"I'll feel the wards shift to connect to my own magic and I'll be able to 'hear' the hum of the students' magic.  The Headmaster/Headmistress has the ability to hear the students' magic so that they can tell if someone is injured or in serious trouble." Minerva shifted irritably.  "I wasn't expecting something like this to happen...who is going to take over my classes?"

Kingsley paused, nonplussed; he didn't know anyone in the building who could take over the Transfiguration classes for Minerva, bar one. "The only one I can think of is Lucius Malfoy, but, since he's on the Board of Inquiry, he's out.  Is there a way to continue with the younger years only...say first through fourth years...and let the others be self-study?  The fifth years took their O.W.L.s just before the lock down happened, the same goes for the seventh year N.E.W.T.s; the only year that might need assistance is the sixth years, but they could go to the seventh years, if they need any help."

"Kingsley, that's a wonderful idea!  I'm sure the students would appreciate a break after the tests, and, since we don't know how long this is going to last, it would give the sixth years some tutelage by the seventh years.  If the lock down lasts longer than the end of June, is it possible to arrange for the students' test results to be able to be owled in?"

"I'll see what Amelia can arrange.  You should also know that one of our members is out and will not be returning."

Minerva nodded, understandingly.  "Arthur Weasley.  We all read the Daily Prophet this morning.  Another favour, if you could...Ginevra Weasley would like to know if it's possible to disown herself from her mother, but not her father."

It was Kingsley's turn to raise his eyebrows.  "She asked that?"

"Yes, loudly enough that most of the students heard her. Everyone has been treating her like a pariah because of her brother's actions; I think this was just the last straw for her."

"I'm not sure what she can do; she is only fifteen and still a minor."

"Well, since Molly has been arrested, wouldn't her guardianship immediately fall upon Arthur, or whomever he has set up as his proxy?"  Minerva knew what the goblin purges would have done to Albus, having witnessed one such purge several years ago.

"I'm not sure who he has set up, but it's most likely Bill Weasley, as his oldest child.  I can ask Amelia what she should do, but there's the distinct probability that nothing can be done until after the lock down is over and she goes home for the summer months."

Minerva nodded again.  "See what you can find out, please; I'm sure she'd appreciate it.  Do you know when Amelia is going to remove Albus as Headmaster?  The sooner she does, the better; the castle won't allow me to do anything in his office until she does."

"I'll talk to her after dinner tonight."  Kingsley looked back at the table reserved for the board members.  "Although, it may have to wait until tomorrow; it doesn't look like she's joining us tonight."

"Whenever you can, Kingsley...I know you're all very busy." Minerva smiled at the Head Auror and, cancelling the spells, walked back to her seat at the head table.

Kingsley sighed...he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.  He shook his head slightly and joined the others at their table; he couldn't say anything to them just yet.  It would have to wait until he heard from Amelia that she was removing Albus as Headmaster and installing Minerva for the interim.  He noticed that Sirius Black was also amongst those missing from the table, along with Charlie Weasley; a quick glance at the Slytherin table, though, told him where Charlie was.  At this point, there was no telling where Sirius was...probably wandering the grounds reminiscing.

~O~

Just as soon as they had entered the bedroom, Severus hauled the slightly older man into his arms and plundered his mouth; he was wasting absolutely no time in getting what he had long denied wanting.  The oral exploration continued for several minutes as hands mapped out bodies and hips thrust slightly against other hips; Severus had long passed the point-of-no-return when Sirius pushed him slightly, sending him back onto the bed, and crawled on top of him.

"I don't know whether you want to top or bottom, but I'm assuming that you're a top, considering that you got James pregnant. I've never bottomed...well, never had sex with a bloke before, either, so I really don't know what to do."

Severus pulled Sirius down to his chest and rolled them both over; he ran his nose up the side of the other man's neck, inhaling the scent that was pure Sirius Black.  "I've been both, I'll let you make the choice."

By this point, Sirius was a quivering puddle of goo; he wanted Severus so badly, but didn't know how to make the first move.  "Take me."

Severus groaned volubly when he heard those two words; he had dreamed for months about taking this man, making him his...now he was going to get his chance.  He latched onto the chest below him and began to mark his new lover; he would make sure that no one could see this mark, it would be well below the neckline of any shirt that Sirius chose to wear.  He couldn't risk Sirius being dismissed from the Board of Inquiry for a conflict of interest; he wanted Sirius right here, at Hogwarts, where they could be together as often as they wished.

As Severus' hands and lips worked their own magic on his body, Sirius could feel his own magic rise and swirl around them.  This was something he had always denied...the fact that he wanted to be with another man.  He had been attracted to several boys during his years at Hogwarts, but Walburga Black had already drilled into his head the need to procreate, to have an heir; he hadn't known, until he had done some research in his seventh year, that wizards could also get pregnant, but it required someone with a large well of power in their magical core.  He knew James had had that power, Severus had that power and a couple of others in their year...but Sirius wasn't one of them.  Yes, he was a fairly powerful wizard, but no more than the average wizard; he and Remus were about equal when it came to magical strength.  It had come as a great surprise to him to find out, when Harry had been born, that his infant godson had more magical strength than he did. 

Now, his magic was claiming this man as his mate...a mate that he would be faithful to for the rest of his life.  It didn't matter to his magic that this was, more likely than not, just a passing thing for Severus; his magic was now so in tune with the man currently working his way down Sirius' body that, had someone been able to see their auras, they would have been identical.

Severus felt the rise of Sirius' magic and realised what it meant; before he could stop it, his magic had also risen to meet it.  Their magicks swirled together and then formed a cloud surrounding the two men on the bed; Severus was helpless to stop what he was doing...and, if he thought about it, he didn't want to stop.  He began to prepare Sirius for the ultimate consummation of their magicks' joining; he took his time with it, he didn't want to hurt Sirius and make the memories of his first time with Severus painful.

Sirius moaned ecstatically when Severus found his prostate and gently brushed over it a few times; it disguised the entry of a third finger.  He found himself spiralling toward orgasm and tried to warn Severus.  "Gonna...gonna..."

"No, not yet, you're not."  Severus reached up to tug sharply on Sirius' sac; the slight pain that accompanied this took the edge off of Sirius' need to come and Severus blithely continued to prepare him.

Sirius had never experienced anything like this before; it was almost as if Severus actually cared about not causing him pain.  He didn't think that Severus would ever forgive him for what he and the other Marauders had done to him during their seven years at Hogwarts; this was why it was so hard for him to believe that Severus was preparing him for any other reason than for his own pleasure.  As if he could read Sirius' thoughts, Severus leaned forward and gently kissed his lips and then whispered in his ear, "You are really going to enjoy this."  His words only served to further confuse Sirius.

Severus finished preparing Sirius to his satisfaction and began to slick up his own cock; he wanted this man so badly, but he also wanted to assure that he felt pleasure as well.  He felt Sirius tense as he touched the tip of his cock to the well-prepared entrance. "Relax, Sirius...if you don't relax, this is going to hurt and damage you.  Relax."  His words and voice had the required effect on Sirius and the head of his cock breeched the opening with very little resistance.

Sirius had to work to keep from tensing every muscle in the lower half of his body.  _Fuck! That_ _ **HURTS!**_   He pushed his hips down slightly and that eased the way for Severus to enter him completely;  Sirius bunched his fists into the coverlet on the bed, gripping with all of his strength.  He tried breathing through his nose to control the pain, but it had very little effect; the burning in his arse felt like it had set every nerve ending in his body on fire and he was helpless to fight it.

"That's good, Sirius...that's good.  Just a moment more and we can rest for a minute."  Severus remembered his first time bottoming and knew exactly what Sirius was feeling; he knew the pain, knew the burning...he also knew that it would ease and Sirius would get used to the feeling of something being where nothing had been before.  Severus held his upper body up with his arms, trying not to place all of his weight on the man below him; feeling trapped, combined with the pain, was not a good feeling to have during sex. He could feel Sirius' muscles easing slightly and took several deep breaths to keep himself from orgasming; the warmth of the channel surrounding him and the slickness were making it difficult for him to remember why he shouldn't move.

Sirius felt the burning and pain subside slightly and mentally examined the fullness he was feeling; it felt off, like there was something where it shouldn't be, but, on the whole, it wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be.  He relaxed some more and then cautiously nodded at Severus; he wasn't sure he was going to enjoy this, but if it got him closer to Severus, then he'd put up with it.

Severus saw the hesitant nod and slowly withdrew until just the head of his cock remained embedded inside of Sirius; using all of his mental willpower, Severus kept up a slow pattern of thrust and retreat, thrust and retreat, until he felt that Sirius was fully open to him.  He picked up the pace of his thrusts and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on the other man's slightly parted lips; their lips clung for a moment before a subtle shifting of his hips brought Severus into contact with Sirius' prostate.

Sirius slammed his eyes shut and tried to control the whimpering moan that wanted to escape, but he couldn't; at the sound, Severus kept his next thrust at the same angle and repeatedly brushed his cock over the small bundle of nerves.  Sirius felt his orgasm barrelling down on him and wrapped his arms around Severus' neck, pulling him down for another kiss.  Just as their lips met again, a kaleidoscope of colours exploded behind Sirius' closed eyes and he felt his orgasm crash over him; it was the last thing he knew for at least an hour.

Severus felt the muscles of Sirius' channel clamp down around him in orgasm; the pressure and heat served to drag him over the edge of the precipice, and he joined Sirius in the blissful darkness.  Their bodies and magicks worked to keep the two together; Severus' arms surrounded Sirius and cradled him to his chest.  Sirius threw a leg over one of Severus' and snuggled closer, intent upon keeping close to the warmth of the man next to him.

Seemingly of their own accord, the blanket and duvet lifted and covered them, cocooning them in the mingled heat of their bodies. And on they slept, never hearing the slight giggles of the house elves in the living area as they picked up Severus' clothing and mopped up the large wet area where Sirius had landed.  While she hadn't watched, the Lady Hogwarts was still pleased with her two lost boys; they needed each other, they complemented each other...now to make them see that in the cold light of day.

~O~

Harry looked over at Bill and nodded his head when Bill motioned that he was going to take Arthur upstairs and help him get ready for bed. The twins were coming tomorrow, after their interviews with Madame Bones; they would be able to help with Arthur in the evenings...just until he was a little more stable.  It had only been just less than a week since the ritual purge by the goblins; they had been warned that it could take closer to two or three weeks before he was physically capable of caring for himself again.  No matter, though, that's what they were there for.

After half an hour, Bill returned to the study and flopped down on the sofa next to Harry; he slid an arm around Harry's waist and drew him over until he was sitting straddled on Bill's lap.  This position served to remind both men that it had been several days since the last time they had been intimate.  Bill had to control himself, so that he didn't just vanish their clothing and take Harry right there; he knew that they wouldn't be interrupted, but he wanted to be able to fall asleep in comfort once they were through.

Harry had other plans.


	34. The Twins, Albus and an Overdue Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I am so sorry that this has taken this long to get to you! Real life has been an utter bitch to me and forced me to let things slide for far too long! First my son got sick, then the hurricane happened (I did get one chapter in after that), then the holidays, then my son got sick again (the flu! Even after the shot!), then I got sick, then we both got sick...it's been a never-ending cycle! I know it's supposedly no excuse, but I'm a single mother, working full-time...if I can't see straight enough to take proper care of my son, I'm in no condition to write. So, once again, I apologize...hopefully I won't take another 4 months to get another chapter out!

 Fred and George Weasley were ready when the two Aurors appeared at the front door of their shop; today was the day that they were going to be interviewed by the Board of Inquiry. They knew that there wouldn't be much that they could contribute to the investigation, but they were willing to share anything that they knew. They had purposely remembered every time Albus Dumbledore had told them that the Slytherins were lower than pond scum and shouldn't be allowed into _**HIS**_ wonderful school; they brought to mind every small thing they had noticed about Dumbledore's favouritism of the Gryffindors and his persecutions of the Slytherins. 

Once their interviews were over, Amelia Bones thanked them and allowed them to leave unescorted; they had heard, from Kingsley Shacklebolt, that Ron had done something extremely stupid and had been escorted directly to a holding cell at the Ministry. They hadn't found out exactly what he'd done, but they weren't willing to ask, either. They had been stopped by Lucius just as they were crossing the Entrance Hall to leave.

“Misters Weasley! Please...how is Arthur?”

“He's doing fairly good...”

“...according to what...”

“...Harry and Bill say.” 

Lucius looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before holding up a hand. “Could you please speak like normal human beings? I realise that this is normal for you, but not for the rest of the world.” 

Fred chuckled and threw an arm around his twin's shoulders. “Sorry about that, Mr. Malfoy. We do that purely to confuse everyone.”

“Well, it works! Now, how is your father?”

“Bill says that he's slowly getting better, but it's going to take a lot longer than we had originally thought. He's had about 30 years of Mum controlling him and his actions; it could be weeks or months before he's back to how he should have been. Harry said that the goblins hadn't ever seen someone under the influence of that many potions and spells for that long a period of time; they weren't sure how long it could take before his natural personality begins to come out.”

Lucius nodded and then smiled slightly. “Give your father my regards, as well as those from Remus. I don't know how much longer this is going to continue, but I can only hope that it ends soon. I must be going and it wouldn't do to have someone see us speaking and assume the worst.”

The twins grinned at the older man and left the school. They knew that Lucius couldn't tell them anything, but the slight hint he had given about the length of time left let them know that things were probably winding down. They left the gates of the school and apparated to The Lion's Den; they were anxious to see their father and see for themselves how his recovery was going.

~O~

Albus woke slowly, cautiously opening his eyes and looking around him; he didn't recognise where he was, but that didn't mean he wasn't still somewhere inside of the school. He realised that the tingling he felt was the hum of the students' magic, so he knew he was still considered to be the Headmaster of Hogwarts and he _**was**_ still at Hogwarts. He had to try to find a way out of wherever he was, so that he could reconnect to the school's magic and make good on his escape.

This whole situation was irritating; first his little pawn had thrown the game and now he was imprisoned somewhere inside of his own school. When he got himself out of this mess, Cornelius Fudge was going to regret siding against him. Albus tried pushing his magic against the wards restraining him in the room he was in, but all he got in return was a nasty shock; a piece of parchment floated down from the ceiling.

_My Dear Albus,_

 

_I would suggest that you not try to escape from your room. There are two Aurors stationed just across the hallway from your door. If you actually made it through the door, you would be dead before you could set one foot over the threshold._

 

_The Lady Hogwarts_

 

The two Aurors in the hallway laughed when they heard the frustrated scream from inside of Dumbledore's room; they didn't know what had happened, but they were enjoying it nonetheless.

~O~

Arthur hadn't told anyone what he was writing or whom he was writing to; for the moment it was none of their business. He looked at the letter and nodded decisively; this letter was long overdue and it was time it was sent. He looked up and found a strange owl sitting on his window sill, just staring at him; it was a rather large bird, with piercing yellow eyes and beautiful brown and black feathers.

“Well, aren't you a beautiful bird? I wonder who you belong to.” Arthur slowly got up from his chair at the desk; he was still getting used to moving around without all of the compulsion spells guiding his every move. He made his way over to the window and the strange owl. “As I can assume you are here for this letter, please take it straight to Amelia Bones. Don't let anyone else take it and, if you can, give it to her when she's alone.”

He straightened up from tying the letter to the owl's leg and watched, stunned, as the owl nodded and took flight from the window. Arthur had to wonder if the owl belonged to Amelia, or if it was one of the many owls that lived at The Lion's Den. Shaking his head at the fanciful thought, he slowly walked over to the bed and lay down on top of the duvet; he was too tired to worry about covering himself right now.

Ten minutes later, he was sound asleep and didn't hear the sound of a house elf popping into the room. The bed covers slid out from underneath him and softly cocooned him in their warmth. Jemmy smiled and busied himself with straightening up the Master Wheezy's room.

~O~

Amelia looked up as an owl swooped into the Great Hall and landed in front of her; she smiled slightly as she recognised the majestic brown and black owl. “Well then, Mercury, what do you have for me there?” Amelia untied the letter and placed several pieces of bacon on a plate for the owl. She didn't recognise the writing, but something told her that she should be alone when reading this letter; she looked over at Kingsley. “Who is scheduled for this morning?”

He thought for a moment before answering. “Just Marcus Flint, Oliver Wood and the beginning of the teachers.”

“Call me when you want to begin; I have a letter that I need to read.”

“I'll call you in about an hour.”

Amelia nodded and quickly made her way to her quarters; once she had the door shut and warded behind her, she opened the letter and began to read.

 

_Dear Amelia,_

 

_I don't know how to convey to you my sincere apologies for the last thirty years. The last thing I remember clearly, before the potions and spells began to cloud my mind, was the thought that I truly needed to speak to my father about a contract between the two of us. I can only assume that Molly found out who I had been dating, after I broke things off with her. I should have known better. I should have known, given how she excelled at potions, that she wouldn't let me go that easily._  

_The goblins told me that it may take quite some time before I become accustomed to the feeling of being in control of my own body again. I don't know how long that 'quite some time' will take, but I'm slowly learning to deal with it. I'm staying with Bill and Harry at one of Harry's houses; I can't say which one, due to the Fidelius Charm, but it's huge._

_Once the inquiry is over, you're going to have to help me try to remember what happened. Bill used a little of the goblin magic he's learned from working at Gringotts and reversed any Obliviate that has been cast on me. I now know that I have lost huge chunks of my life. I don't remember much about our sixth year, and almost nothing of our seventh; Bill did assure me that, while the memories would take some time to come back, they will eventually resurface. I've regained some of the memories of some of the things that went on during my marriage to Molly, but I've yet to understand why she did this to me._

_The Weasley family wasn't that wealthy, nor do we have any major properties. Well, I say that now, but I found out that my brother, Bilius, had quite a fortune saved up and two properties that I knew nothing about. Molly had intercepted the letter from Gringotts, telling me about the reading of his will; she had attended in my place, after forcing me to sign a letter designating her as my proxy for that event. This was one of the many memories that she had Obliviated. She's been siphoning money from his vaults since before Bilius' death in 1974. I wonder if Bilius had known about it; he became very ill and bedridden not long after he moved in with us in 1971. Do you think that Molly could have done something to him?_

_I really don't know how long it's going to take before I'm me again, but, once I am, I will be petitioning for the dissolution of my bond to Molly. Her great-aunt is backing me on this and will also be making one of the boys her heir; most likely Percy as Charlie doesn't have the head for business that Percy does._

_Amelia, please forgive me for not being stronger. Forgive me for ignoring you for the last thirty years. Forgive me. Please._

 

_Yours Always,_

_Arthur Weasley_

 

Amelia wiped her eyes and stared into the empty hearth, trying desperately to control the building rage she could feel surging in her mind. Molly Prewett had ruined Arthur Weasley's life...and possibly taken the life of his brother Bilius. She would need to look into having the Aurors use Veritaserum during her trial and suggest that questions be asked about Bilius Weasley's death. There was no statute of limitations on murder in the wizarding world; if it was discovered that Molly had a hand in his death, that was an automatic sentence of at least thirty years in Azkaban. If the death was planned, the sentence went from imprisonment to the Dementor's Kiss.

Molly Prewett Weasley was so screwed!

~O~

Harry stared at the paper that Bill had just handed him; it was a subpoena for Molly's trial. The DMLE was asking that, if Bill knew anything about his mother's skill with potions, then he was to appear on Friday, at the Ministry building, to testify against her. Harry dropped the letter and wrapped his arms around his fiancé; he held him tightly until the shaking and the tears stopped. Neither one noticed that Arthur had entered the study and stood in the doorway.

“How can they expect you to testify against your own mother?”

“I don't know...I just don't know. How am I going to be able to do this? How am I going to be able to go in there and tell them that, yes, my mother was an exceptionally talented potion maker? It's bad enough that she did this, but do they really need my input? Do I really have to do this?”

“I'm not sure you do, Bill, but it might be for the best.” Arthur moved the rest of the way into the room and sat heavily in one of the chairs. “I got my own letter...but I expected to receive one. They're going to put me under Veritaserum for my testimony; you might ask that they do the same for you.”

“Would Veritaserum make a difference though? If he was too young to understand what she was doing, how could Veritaserum help?” Harry didn't understand why they wanted Bill's testimony.

“One of the things I've learned, in my years at the Ministry, is what, exactly, Veritaserum does. You may not remember seeing anything, but Veritaserum will pull that memory to the front of your mind. You may not think you've seen anything important, but with the proper questions, a good questioner can get all of the information about what you saw. For instance, if Bill saw Molly make a potion and then feed it to me, after which I started acting oddly, the Veritaserum would bring forth a pensieve-ready memory; the Aurors can then remove that memory and view it or project it so that the entire room can see it. Bill would be the only child that this would work on; Charlie was too young and Percy wasn't born until 1975.”

“Why would the year matter? This went on your entire married life.” Bill got the feeling that there was something that his father wasn't telling them.

Arthur looked down at his hands and answered. “Bill, the Aurors think that your mother may have had something to do with your Uncle Bilius' death. He moved in with us in 1971, said he needed some place to live, and he became very sick just a few months later. You wouldn't remember that...you'd just had your first birthday when he became ill. When Bilius died, the official inquest said that he had taken a potion that was meant to be applied to the skin; the DMLE ruled it an accidental death...now they're not so sure. Because my situation has come out, they decided to look into any potions related incidents that happened around your mother...Bilius' death is one of them. Another happened in the last few months of our last year at Hogwarts. One of the younger Hufflepuff girls had taken a liking to me and had tried to get me to break things off with your mother; Molly had already caused me to essentially dump the girl I had broken up with her to go out with...this other girl was just the icing on the cake. The poor thing became so ill that she never finished Hogwarts and died about three months into what would have been her seventh year.”

“If that's true...then she's a murderer, not just a poisoner! Why would she do something like that?”

“She became obsessed with me. We dated casually in fourth year and became more serious in fifth year; by the time the end of our fifth year rolled around, she was expecting a betrothal contract. The only problem with this was that my feelings had changed; I was finding her issues with control to be too much for me to handle. I started dating another girl, also a sixth year, not long after we started the term; I had broken things off with your mother over the summer, explaining that my feelings had changed and I thought we should take a break and try dating other people. She began stalking me after that, always appearing wherever I was and chasing people away from me. Around Easter of that year was when the potions and spells started.”

Bill had slumped back into his chair and was staring sightlessly at the window across the room; he barely noticed Harry hugging him again. His mother was a potential murderer...she had possibly killed at least one person, a second wasn't that far-fetched a thought.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I am so sorry that this has taken this long to get to you! I had truly hoped that it wouldn't take this long to get another chapter to you. I have reasons...lots of reasons...unfortunately, none of them make much sense. I apologise to you, but here is the next chapter.

__

Molly Weasley knew that her life was over; when the Aurors found out about Bilius and that Ginevra Everscham, they would give her the Kiss. Not that either one of them hadn't deserved what had happened to them...imagine what trouble that would have caused in her relationship with Arthur. It was bad enough that he had broken up with her to date Amelia Bones, but then another girl started lusting after him; and then, when Bilius had moved in with them, he had cornered her to tell her that he knew about the Everscham girl. Of course, that meant that he had to die, too. Oh, a few potions here and some more there and Bilius' health had started to decline; just one more had done it at the very end.

She thought she had covered her tracks well, but apparently that hadn't been well enough; she knew that she was going to be given Veritaserum and that would end all of the speculation. They would discover her involvement in the death of the girl she had named her daughter after (Arthur had thought that she was being nice to the girl's memory...she just wanted a reminder of her success in keeping others away from _**her**_ Arthur!) and that of Arthur's brother and she would either die in Azkaban or be taken to meet the Dementors...neither of which was a palatable occurrence.

She didn't know it, but her youngest son was sitting in a cell just one hallway over from hers; he had been charged with assault on an Auror and was awaiting his own trial. Once he was given Veritaserum, all hell was going to break loose; Albus Dumbledore was going to regret messing with Ronald Weasley's mind.

~O~

The Trial of Molly Weasley was definitely one to make the newspapers; there were representatives from _The Daily Prophet_ , _The Quibbler_ , _Witches Weekly_ , _Wizards Quarterly_ and several other smaller monthly periodicals. They all vied to get the seats in the gallery as close to the front as possible; none of them was willing to miss a single word of the trial.

The testimonies of her eldest son and her husband were heard before her own questioning began. The two barristers had both been trained on how to draw out pensieve-ready memories from a person who had been very young when the crimes were committed; William Weasley's memories had convicted his mother before Arthur Weasley even took the stand. The first memory that was taken was of his mother talking to herself about making Bilius Weasley even more sick, so that he died earlier than planned; the second memory showed her actually force-feeding Bilius Weasley the potion that killed him. The Hogwarts house elf, sent by Lady Hogwarts to provide memories for Amelia Bones, practically vibrated with glee as it watched the pensieve memories from the young man; Dibby was certain that the Ma'am Bonesy would enjoy this tremendously.

When Molly Prewett Weasley had been given the Veritaserum, and was fully under its effects, the questioning had begun. The trial barrister for the Ministry, one Sterling Foster, was known to be cut-throat in his methods and always took the time to research a case extensively; the trial barrister for Molly was a young man, barely out of his apprenticeship, and he had never dealt with a case involving murder before. As she couldn't afford a barrister with her own funds...her access to Arthur's vaults and those that had belonged to Bilius Weasley had been cut off...one had been appointed for her by the Ministry. The young man very quickly realised, after viewing Bill's memories, that he was in way over his head.

When Molly admitted, after several minutes of questioning, about her knowledge of potions and her abilities with them, Foster had gone for the kill.

“Did you give potions to Bilius Weasley to make him ill?”

“Yes.”

“Did you give him a potion that you knew would kill him?”

“Yes.” The court erupted into excited whispers and the bailiffs had to regain order before Foster could continue.

“Did you give potions to Ginevra Everscham?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know that they would eventually kill her?”

“Yes.” Again, whispering started up in the gallery and had to be contained.

“Why would you knowingly give deadly potions to these two people?”

“The Everscham bitch was after _**MY**_ Arthur and I couldn't let her get anywhere near him.” The manic smile that broke through the effects of the Veritaserum chilled the blood of everyone in the courtroom. “Bilius knew about what I had done to her and confronted me with it after he moved into our spare room. They had to die.”

Sterling Foster turned to the younger barrister and smiled genially. “Your witness, Barrister McIlhenny.” The young man gulped and shook his head...he wasn't going to try to cross-examine a woman who had just admitted to two counts of murder.

“Bailiff, administer the antidote.” The elderly gentleman presiding over the trial was shaken to the core by the answers from the woman before the Wizengamot; never had he heard such a nauseating admission of guilt before. He turned to the crowd that threatened to burst the courtroom at the seams. “We will take a break to discuss what we have heard here.” He led his fellow members out of the room and into the back room designated for this part of the trial.

“Gentlemen and Ladies...we have seen the memory evidence, we have heard the testimony from the witnesses and the defence...how do we find the defendant?” Dead silence greeted his words before complete mayhem broke out.

~O~

The courtroom plunged into anticipatory silence when the members of the Wizengamot re-entered the courtroom and took their seats; many people, especially the news reporters, leaned forward in their seats to better hear and see the reactions of the Wizengamot.

“Members of the Wizengamot, you have heard and witnessed the evidence against Molly Weasley, including her own testimony via Veritaserum...how do you find the defendant?”

This is what everyone had been waiting for...the verdict either for or against Molly Prewett Weasley. Everyone listening knew that, no matter what happened, no matter what the ruling was, the Wizarding World would be changing from this moment forward. There would be changes in the Potions curriculum at Hogwarts and the other, smaller schools around the country; a closer watch would be placed on those who showed a proficiency in the more malicious potions and spells. With the evidence proving that Molly Weasley had been allowed to practice both the malicious potions and spells, essentially unchecked, during her time at Hogwarts, the crack-down on these things would begin almost immediately after the trial adjourned. Everyone also knew that this spelled the end of Albus Dumbledore's reign at Hogwarts; he had allowed these things to happen, had basically approved of them, without actually giving his approval. By doing nothing to contain the knowledge being taught at his school, he had essentially been indirectly responsible for what had happened to Arthur and Bilius Weasley and to Ginevra Everscham.

Air stilled in the chests of all those watching the trial as a single member of the Wizengamot stood, one Charles Ogden by name.

“We, the members of the Wizengamot, after much thought and debate, find Molly Prewett Weasley guilty of two charges of murder; we also find her guilty of brewing and administering to her husband, Arthur Weasley, 362 Love Potions, 11 Lust Inducing Potions and 152 Compulsion Potions. We also find her guilty in the use of 206 Compulsion Spells on Arthur Weasley; these spells are not illegal individually, but in the concentrated amount used, it would have the effect of a life-long Imperius Spell cast on her husband...in essence, she is guilty of using an Unforgivable Curse on Arthur Weasley. We recommend that each of her children be tested for Obliviates and other spells, as well as illegal potions. Her sentence is to be stripped of her magic and committed to Azkaban for ten years; at the end of that time, she will be administered the Dementor's Kiss.”

As Charles Ogden regained his seat, utter pandemonium broke out in the courtroom; Molly Weasley sat, chained to her chair, staring at the wall in shock. Bill wrapped his arms around his father and held him tightly; this was only the beginning. Bill knew that there would be much more to come from the fallout of the trial; he only hoped he could keep it away from Harry.

Sterling Foster walked up to Arthur and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “Arthur...I have the paperwork ready to start the dissolution of your bond to Molly Prewett Weasley. Do you want me to submit it?”

From within Bill's arms, Arthur gave a single nod and then proceeded to ignore everything else around him. His marriage was over...but his life was just beginning.

~O~

Amelia Bones stepped in front of the head table in the Great Hall; she as anticipating much anger and screeching from both the teachers and the students after she made her announcement.

“Attention Everyone!” A Sonorus spell ensured that she would be heard by everyone in the Hall. “At this time, I, Amelia Bones, Head of the Hogwarts Board of Inquiry, am removing Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore from his position as Headmaster of this school. In his place, Minerva McGonagall will assume the position of Headmistress. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with the reasons behind this change, but, rest assured, it is necessary for the competent running of this school. If you have any questions, ones that do not pertain to the change, please direct them to Headmistress McGonagall. Thank you.”

She stepped down from the dais and strode back to the Board's table at the back of the Hall. As she had predicted, the room exploded with conversations and accusations from both the student body and the teaching staff; Minerva McGonagall sat in silence at the head table. That silence lasted less than one minute; a loud bang preceded a shower of red sparks emitting from the end of her wand.

“May I have your attention please! While I understand that this news is somewhat distressing to most of you, I can assure you that Madame Bones has her reasons for this change. Once again, I ask that you do nothing to interfere with the Board of Inquiry's mission here; they are working toward improving your educational experience.”

Minerva moved one seat to her right and gingerly sat in the throne-like chair that was reserved for the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts. Although the perspective hadn't changed much, she now felt that, along with feeling the buzz of the students' magic, she could see them all just that much better; there must be a spell, or something, on the chair to allow her to see everyone more clearly. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to acclimate herself to the constant buzz of magic just under her skin, magic that wasn't hers. She wasn't certain that she was truly prepared for this responsibility, but she would make damn sure that she did her best.


End file.
